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THE TWINS, wide-awake American boy and girl 
of twelve years, made the most of their wealthy uncle 
and aunt’s invitation to accompany them on a trip 
through tlie Holy Land. The journey proved a delight 
from beginning to end. Reaching this historic land by 
steamer through the blue Mediterranean, they landed 
at Jaffa, built on the foundations of the ancient city 
of Joppa, and then visited Jerusalem and its sur- 
rounding villages, rich in memories of Christ’s days 
on earth and in busy, picturesque Eastern life of the 
present day. 

A long horseback and camping trip then took them 
northward to beautiful Galilee through the Old Testa- 
ment country, and they ended their explorations at 
Damascus, having seen the Holy Land almost “from 
Dan to Beersheba,” which is another way of saying 
“from end to end.” 






TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 
























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‘"‘IT IS BETTER TO RIDE TO BETHLEHEM DONKEY BACK' ^ 


TWIN TRAVELERS 
IN THE HOLY LAND 


BY 

MAHY H. WADE 

Author of "Twin Travelers in South America,’^ "Light-Bringers," 
"The LAttle Cousin Series" etc. 


WITH A FRONTISPIECE IN COLOR AND EIGHT 
ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS 



NEW YORK 

FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 






Copyright, 1919, hy 
Frederick A. Stokes Company 

AU rights reserved, including that of translation 
into foreign languages 


NOV 17 1919 


©CI.A535727 


'X 'v 


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CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I On the Way 1 

II Coming Into Port 6 

III Sight-Seeing in Jaffa 21 

IV The Ride to Jerusalem 31 

V The Holy City 35 

VI The Holt Sepulchre 45 

VII Joe’s Adventure in Jerusalem .... 53 

VIII On a Syrian Roadside 59 

IX The Dead Sea 71 

X Queer Sights 79 

XI The Old Capital of Israel 83 

XII The Storm 89 

XIII The Town in which Jesus Grew to Man- 

hood 99 

XIV Beside the Sea 105 

XV The Last Ride in Palestine Ill 


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ILLUSTRATIONS 


“ ‘It is better to ride to Bethlehem donkey back’ ” 

Frontispiece *- 

FACING 

PAGE 

“Just inside the gate was a little market place" . . 36*^ 

The Golden Gate, through which Christ rode, is closed 

now 56 

“ ‘All over the Holy Land you will meet water- 

carriers’ ’’ 64 

“ ‘Bethlehem, the “House of Bread," is a pleasant 

place to live in’ " 66 

“ They soon came in sight of Bethany nestling in a 

hollow near the foot of the Mount of Olives" . . 72 ‘ 

Planting before plowing is the way in Syria .... 80 •- 

Below them lay Nazareth, with gardens separated by 

cactus hedges 96 

“ ‘Those very fishermen are no doubt casting their 

nets in the same way their ancestors did’ ’’ . . 106 



TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 


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TWIN TRAVELERS IN 
THE HOLY LAND 


CHAPTER I 

ON THE WAY 

TT’S all so wonderful it doesn’t seem as if it could 
be true.” 

As Lucy spoke, there was a sudden lurch of the 
steamer and she had to clutch hold of the rail to keep 
from falling backwards. Then, with a smile that 
made her dimples show deep in her cheeks, she went 
on: 

“Aunt Nell, you are the dearest auntie in the 
world, and Uncle Ben is the dearest uncle, to bring 
us twins with you on this lovely voyage. 

“Why, just think of it!” The little girl spoke ex- 
citedly now. “After a year of adventures in South 
America and then the home visit to New York with 
Mummie to see Grandma and the other dear folks 
there, for Joe and me to come with you on this new 
journey to the Holy Land, which must be the best of 
all places to visit, is simply glorious!” The last 
words fairly tumbled over each other. 

[ 1 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 

‘H wish your dear mother could have come too; 
but, of course, she had to go back to keep your fathei: 
company in Rio. It was hard enough for him to 
spare you all for the home visit. His letters showed 
that he was very lonely.” 

Mrs. Andrews spoke regretfully. Mrs. Grayson, 
the twins ’ mother, was her only sister, and she loved 
her deeply. The two had never been far apart till 
Mr. Grayson had gone to Brazil the year before to 
engage in the export of cotfee, and had taken his 
family with him. 

“Dear Daddy! It was awfully good in him to let 
us come with you. How the telegrams flew back and 
forth while he and Mummie were deciding what to 
do! It didn’t take long, though. And after that 
Mummie sailed south to join Daddy in Rio, while 
we started on our voyage across the Atlantic.” At 
this, the little girl gave her aunt one of the love-pats 
which her mother was perhaps wishing for that very 
moment. 

Just then a boy’s voice sounded behind Lucy so 
suddenly that she started. It was her brother Joe, 
whose eyes were dancing with fun, as in fact they 
were a good deal of the time. Close behind him was 
his uncle. “You folks are missing a heap while you 
sit there talking,” cried the boy. “Lucy, you must 
have forgotten what the Captain told us at break- 
fast, that we are fast leaving the New World behind 
us, and are about to enter the Old World. Just look 
[ 2 ] 


ON THE WAY 


ahead! Do you see those faint lines'? The highland 
coast of Spain is at our left. We shall sail close 
along the shore, and almost before we know it we will 
reach Tarifa; and soon after that, the mightiest 
fortress in the world will he before us. Hurrah for 
Gibraltar ! ’ ’ 

Not long after passing Tarifa, Joe, who had gone 
with his uncle to the bow of the ship, came hurrying 
back to his aunt and sister to call their attention to 
a tall tower he had discovered on the rocky Spanish 
coast. 

‘‘It’s sixty feet high and round all the way up ! ” 
he cried. “Gee! I’d like to go to the top of that 
tower.” 

“Look! there’s another, and away off ahead of 
us, another yet,” said Lucy, clapping her hands at 
her discovery. 

“We shall find them at intervals along the shore 
until we reach the great fortress you are so anxious 
to see,” replied her uncle. “But when that is once 
before us I guess we shall forget everything else.” 

Mr. Andrews spoke as eagerly as a boy. Many 
hard years of business were behind him, and now 
that he had started out on his first long vacation, 
he entered into it with his whole heart. 

“And there it is!” he exclaimed a while after- 
wards. “Gibraltar the mighty! Gibraltar the un- 
conquerable ! ’ ’ 

Straining their eyes in the light of the fast-setting 

[ 3 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 


sun, the party saw in the distance a gigantic rock- 
mountain rising up from the water’s edge and 
shaped somewhat like a huge pyramid. So high it 
reached, it seemed to touch the sky. 

On the ship steamed through the waters of the 
strait. And now the watchers on deck discovered 
that a tiny town nestled at the base of the fortress. 

‘Tf we stopped there we could find stores filled 
with curios to sell the travelers who visit the place, 
and no doubt we should meet many British soldiers 
from the garrison stationed there,” Mr. Andrews 
told the children. 

“I doubt if I should buy anything, though. I 
would prefer to wait till I reached Palestine before 
making purchases to take home,” said his wife. 

“Joe, I can guess what you would like to bring 
away as a souvenir,” Mr. Andrews laughed mis- 
chievously. 

“What?” The boy looked up at his uncle with 
eyes full of curiosity. 

“A monkey.” 

“A monhey from the fortress of Gibraltar?* * 

“Yes, one of our fellow passengers who has been 
there told me that monkeys climb up and down the 
sides of the cliff all day long. We are too far from 
shore to see them, even with our opera glasses. Fur- 
thermore, you will all be interested to know that on 
the summit of Gibraltar, and from openings in its 
sides, big guns are standing with their noses pointed 

[ 4 ] 


ON THE WAY 


out towards us, and if our ship were that of a dan- 
gerous enemy ” 

“Then whizz, bang I’' Joe broke in. “Without a 
moment’s notice we might all be blown into specks 
of dust, and that would be the end of us.” 

“But the world of to-day is a peaceful one,” Mr. 
Andrews went on seriously, ‘ ‘ and the warfare of old 
times is not likely to occur again.” 

Little did the kind man dream that in a few more 
years the most terrible war in history would take 
place. 

“There is something else we would discover about 
Gibraltar if we explored it, ’ ’ said Mr. Andrews while 
all gave it a parting look. “That massive rock is 
actually honeycombed with galleries, and inside of 
them are kept such large stores of ammunition and 
provisions that the garrison could hold the fortress 
for years against attack without help from the out- 
side world.” 


[ 5 ] 


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CHAPTER II 


COMING INTO PORT 

ri^HE Mediterranean is the most beautiful body of 
water I ever looked upon.’’ - 
As Mrs. Andrews spoke she feasted her eyes on 
the calm, deep-blue sea through which the ship was 
sailing. 

‘ ‘ It seems so warm and loving I am almost tempt- 
ed to jump overboard every time I stand watching 
it,” said Lucy dreamily. 

“You’d better resist the temptation,” said Joe, 
who had come up in time to hear the last remark. 
“Lucy Grrayson, you are no mermaid. You can’t 
swim twenty strokes without getting out of breath. ’ ’ 
For answer Lucy only tossed her head. Then, 
changing the subject, she said, “I shall never, never 
forget the sunsets on the Mediterranean, Aunt Nell. 
They have made me feel as if the gates of heaven 
were opening before us.” 

“And I shall never forget the beautiful islands of 
the ^gean sea, ’ ’ said Mrs. Andrews. 

“Just now,” said Joe, darting toward the rail and 
scanning the horizon, “I’m thinking of what is ahead 

[ 7 ] 


TWIN TRAVELER^ IN THE HOLY LAND 

of us. Here you folks are talking as calmly as any- 
thing, when the Holy Land is actually in sight.’’ . 

The lad pointed to a faint blue line in the distance. 
“I want to shout for joy,” he exclaimed. 

“I don’t want to shout,” Lucy whispered to her 
aunt. “It makes me feel queer and sort of trembly 
inside to think that we will soon be in the country 
where Jesus was bom and where He taught and 
worked miracles.” 

“And where He took little children in His arms 
and blessed them,” Mrs. Andrews answered ten- 
derly. 

Mrs. Andrews had no children of her own. It was 
because of this that the twins were particularly pre- 
cious to her husband and herself. 

“We are fortunate in being able to have Joe and 
Lucy go with us,” he had told his wife more than 
once since they left home. “We can enjoy every- 
thing twice as much in having their lively company. ” 

Just now he broke into a merry laugh as Joe called 
out, “Uncle Ben, I’m awfully glad you are a Sunday 
School superintendent. If it hadn’t been for that 
you might not have decided to begin your vacation 
in Palestine.” 

By this time the blue line of distant hills was 
deeper and more distinct, and below the travelers 
could be seen a bold, rocky reef stretching out close 
to the shore, and parallel with it. 

“Ah!” cried Mrs. Andrews as she discovered it. 

[ 8 ] 


COMING INTO PORT 


“According to the old Greek myth that reef must 
be the petrified dragon that was about to devour 
Andromeda when she was chained through the jeal- 
ousy of the sea nymphs to the rocks beyond. The 
brave Perseus rescued her, I remember.” 

“And of course the two then married and lived 
happy together ever after,” said Mr. Andrews with 
a laugh. 

“Yes, and Andromeda lived in the city of Joppa 
on the mainland beyond that reef,” continued his 
wife gayly. ‘ ‘ Moreover when she died, the gods gave 
her a place among the stars, and there she can still 
be seen, shining down upon us mortals.” 

And then the talk stopped, as the steamer was 
rapidly nearing the port of Joppa, or Jaffa as it is 
called now-a-days. Already the travelers could see 
its beach of yellow sand gleaming in the sunlight, 
and its flat-topped stone houses, its waving palm 
trees, and the dark-leaved orange groves stretching 
along the shores beyond it. 

The anchor splashed into the water and the big 
chain rattled noisily after it, and the ship swung 
to when still well out from land ; and as the whistle 
sounded all passengers who were not going farther 
prepared to go ashore. 

Then, as if by magic, Joe and Lucy saw that the 
steamer was almost surrounded by large, clumsy 
looking rowboats, the shouts of whose owners al- 
most deafened them. Already a group of sailors 

[ 9 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 


was letting down the gang plank with a small plat- 
form at the bottom. 

As Mr. Andrews motioned to one of the boatmen 
below that he would hire him for the passage to 
shore, the ship gave a big roll and Lucy and her aunt 
almost fell over. Mr. Andrews seized his wife ’s arm 
while Joe steadied his sister. 

“Uncle Ben, if the ship is going to -act this way,” 
said Lucy fearfully, “I never, never can go down 
that gang plank and get into the boat. Suppose I 
slipped and fell overboard, and a shark should get 
me.” 

“It’s a heap more fun than landing in the common- 
place fashion we are used to,” chuckled Joe, in great 
glee. “I’m glad, for one, that Jaffa hasn’t anything 
one can call a harbor, and the ship is obliged to stay 
outside the reef.” 

“You might not be so glad if there were a storm 
and we could make no landing at all, but had to go 
on to Haifa, ’ ’ said Mr. Andrews. ‘ ‘ But to-day is so 
cahn that you need have no fear, Lucy. Just watch 
that lady going down the gangway, and see how skill- 
fully the dark-skinned boatman reaches up his arms 
to her and places her in the boat. ” 

“But suppose ” Lucy got no further, for again 

the steamer rolled so that even Joe staggered back- 
wards. 

“Suppose we get ready for the venture,” said her 
uncle smiling. He motioned to a steward, who came 
[ 10 ] 


COMING INTO PORT 


hurrying up, seized the hand luggage, dashed down 
the gang plank with it, and having given it into the 
keeping of the boatman Mr. Andrews pointed out, 
returned to guide Lucy and her aunt along what 
seemed to both of them a path of danger. 

“Oh!” gasped the little girl as she settled herself 
on the seat of the rowboat where she had been placed 
by the strong arms of its owner. The roses were 
quite gone from her face, and even her dimples were 
in hiding. 

“Auntie dear,” she whispered later on as the boat 
made its way inland, “when the ship lifted up just 
as the porter was handing me down, and that boat- 
man’s arm seemed so very, very far away, I imag- 
ined a big shark all ready to grab me. It was just 
dreadful. ’ ’ 

“But here we are perfectly safe,” said Mrs. An- 
drews whose own face was white, “and I must con- 
fess, I’m relieved.” 

Joe, sitting beside his uncle at the other end of 
the boat, was still laughing over the “lark,” as he 
called it. At the same time he was busy watching 
the boatmen as the long strokes of their oars brought 
the party nearer and nearer to land. 

In a short time the boat reached the opening into 
the narrow waterway stretching between the reef 
and the mainland. The men stopped rowing and 
looked about, waiting for a high inrolling wave. Ah ! 
here it came I Only a few minutes more and the boat 
[ 11 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 

was lying in the shallow water close to shore. The 
men sprang overboard, seized one after another of 
their passengers in turn, and landed them on the 
steps of the dock. 

Lucy, as well as her brother, enjoyed this odd en- 
trance into the Holy Land. 

“I couldn’t be serious as I expected to be,” she 
afterwards confided to Joe. “It was all so different 
from what I expected.” 

“I shall never forget how Aunt Nell looked in 
that boatman’s arms,” said her brother. “She is so 
tiny, she seemed like a little doll.” 

“And Uncle Ben is so tall, his legs dangled down 
almost into the water,” said Lucy, laughing till the 
tears ran down her cheeks. 

As the travelers climbed the steps of the landing 
they were almost deafened by the cries of “Back- 
sheesh” that filled the air. 

“I fancy we will hear that cry wherever we go 
in Palestine,” Mr. Andrews said rather sadly, “be- 
cause everywhere we shall meet beggars. ’ ’ 

As he spoke, he tossed a coin into the hands of an 
old ragged Arab. Seeing it, other beggars crowded 
around him, so he could scarcely make places for 
his wife and the twins to keep beside him. 

“That was a bad mistake on my part,” he man- 
aged to say to Joe. “I will know better hereafter.” 

Then, after having their papers and baggage ex- 
amined at the custom house, he beckoned to a porter, 
[ 12 ] 


COMING INTO PORT 

a young Armenian, and gave him the address of a 
hotel to which he had been recommended by a fellow 
passenger. It was not far from the landing, and 
the travelers could walk there in a few minutes. 

“How queer everything is!” said Lucy, as hold- 
ing her brother’s arm tightly, she fell back with 
him behind their uncle and aunt. 

“Whew! I should say so !” was the reply. “No 
streets, only dirty crooked lanes, and mud and filth 
everywhere. But it can’t be so bad when one is 
riding donkey back or horseback. And that is prob- 
ably what we ’ll do most of the time. ’ ’ 

“Oh Joe! Look at that!” Lucy pointed to a 
baby lying beside the gutter. The baby wore only 
a dirty slip of cloth, and flies were swarming around 
its head and bare legs. The little one’s eyes were 
lazily following the play of two girls who were leap- 
ing back and forth across the ditch. 

“Bad enough!” said Joe. “But while you look 
at that baby, you are missing all the strange people 
we are passing. The man ahead of us must be a 
Turkish policeman. Notice his fez and long beard. 
He looks ugly.” 

“Sh, Joe! He mustn’t hear what we say. But 
do you know, I wish it were right to hate the Turks. 
Uncle Ben told me this country would be very differ- 
ent if the Turks didn’t rule over it. If Christians 
owned it, I don’t doubt we would be walking this 
very minute along a clean, paved street.” 

[ 13 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 

As Luoy spoke, two Bedouins with long beards 
passed the twins. They were tall and thin, with 
dark, olive skins. Wide capes of goats ’-hair cloth 
hung around their shoulders. The tops of the men’s 
heads were covered with white cloths that hung down 
behind. Ropes made out of camels ’ hair were wound 
around their heads to keep the cloths in place. The 
men were talking to each other in a strange tongue. 

‘‘Bedouins only feel at home in the desert, I sup- 
pose,” said Joe after the men had passed by. “I 
have always pictured them to myself as resting be- 
side their camels or flocks of sheep in an oasis. ’ ’ 

“They looked at us pretty sharply,” replied Lucy. 
“Perhaps they never saw twins before — United 
States twins, anyway.” 

At this both children laughed and hastened to 
join their uncle, who had beckoned to them. 

“I want you to notice the countryman walking 
beside his donkey, ’ ’ he said. ‘ ‘ That must be a sack 
filled with fruit or grain which the poor beastie has 
on its back.” 

As Mr. Andrews spoke, another porter appeared. 
He was dressed in a long blue robe like a bathgown, 
with wide white trousers showing below ; on his back 
was a goatskin filled with water. 

“By the way the bag bulges out — so evenly, too — 
I’m going to guess it is filled with water,” ventured 
Joe. 

“Of course it is,” said Lucy quickly. “Don’t 

[ 14 ] 


COMING INTO PORT 


you see the brass cups the man is clapping together ? 
And he keeps calling out — I can’t understand the 
words — and smiling.” 

“No doubt he is telling how good the water is, so 
the passersby will purchase it,” said Mr. Andrews. 

“There! He is filling the cups for those two 
women who have stopped him, ’ ’ said Lucy, who was 
watching them as she spoke. 

‘ ‘ They are Mohammedans, of course, because their 
faces are veiled,” said Mrs. Andrews. 

As the porter guided the travelers up the narrow 
street, they kept as close to each other as possible, 
because the crowd of strange-looking, strange-speak- 
ing people became quite dense. 

“I have noticed several negroes as black as night; 
and the Jews I know by their noses,” Joe whispered 
to his sister. “The swarthy-skinned people must 
be Syrians.” 

The twins had read several books on the Holy 
Land during the voyage, so they had some idea of 
what to expect. 

“But all the books in the world aren’t like seemg,’* 
Joe afterward wrote home to his father. 

When the party reached the hotel, Mrs. Andrews 
was out of breath, as the way had led mostly uphill. 

“But a hill different from any I ever walked on 
before,” she said with a smile. 

“What do you mean, auntie?” Lucy looked 
puzzled. 


[ 15 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 


“It is a hill made by men, my dear. Your uncle 
has just been explaining to me that Jaffa stands on 
one ruined city above another. How many, we can- 
not tell. Nor, indeed, does any one know how long 
ago the first settlement was made here.” 

‘T know it is early,” said Lucy, glancing at her 
wrist watch which had been a parting gift from 
her mother. “But I’m hungry enough to eat a 
bear!” 

“And I,” said Joe promptly. 

“And I,” echoed Mrs. Andrews. 

“And as I share in the same feeling, we will get 
lunch as soon as we have freshened ourselves up 
a bit,” said her husband. 

A half-hour later the party were seated at an 
attractive-looking table in the dark, cool dining-room. 
Though it was only late April, the walk from the 
steamer had been a warm one, so this was a wel- 
come change. 

“I don’t believe it would ever get hot inside of 
this house,” said Joe, looking about him. “Since it 
is all of stone and has thick walls, the sunshine 
couldn’t make its way through.” 

“Even the floor will keep cool,” said Lucy. “It 
is of solid marble.” 

“Most of the houses we passed on our way here 
were of stone,” said Mrs. Andrews, “and the roofs 
of many of them were flat.” 

[ 16 ] 


COMING INTO PORT 


‘ ‘ But there were so few windows in sight ! ’ ’ cried 
Joe. “What gloomy places to live in!” 

“I think we shall find that many of the houses 
in the cities of Palestine have most of their win- 
dows opening on an inner courtyard.” Mr. An- 
drews spoke thoughtfully. 

“But I saw a good many windows on the upper 
floors of the houses,” said Joe. “They were all 
barred, though, so they made me think of prisons. ’ ’ 

“Behind those gratings many a woman was no 
doubt peeking out at the passers below,” said Mrs. 
Andrews, thinking sadly of the shut-in life of many 
of her Eastern sisters. 

“In front of several of the windows were tiny 
balconies,” said Lucy. “They had high filigree rail- 
ings, and reached out over our heads. On one of 
them I caught sight of a pretty young girl looking 
down at the crowd. That is, I fancied she was young 
and pretty. I couldn’t see her clearly.” 

Just then the waiter appeared with an appetizing 
lunch. There was a delicious soup, rich with the 
flavor of many vegetables ; and after this the trav- 
elers were served with tiny balls of chopped mut- 
ton lying in beds of rice, with a rich brown gravy 
poured over all. For dessert there were sweet rich 
cakes, dried figs, oranges, and a plate of “Turkish 
Delight.” 

The cups of strong, sweet Turkish coffee which 

[ 17 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 


were brought last suited Mr. Andrews “to a T,” as 
he said with a boyish laugh. 

The meal was all the pleasanter because of the 
company at the table of an English lady with her 
son and daughter. The children told the twins that 
they were visiting an older brother who was mar- 
ried and lived in the country, outside of Jaffa. They 
had come in town for a day^s shopping. 

“Our brother has such a pleasant home,” the 
English lad told Joe. “The place has a big garden 
shut in all round with a hedge of prickly pears. 
In it there are ever and ever so many kinds of fruit 
— ^black figs and white ones, pomegranates, mulber- 
ries, peaches, plums and grapes. And there’s a big 
olive orchard near the house, too. My sister and 
I will have a feast of good things to eat all summer 
long.” 

When the meal ended and the new acquaintances 
went their way, Mrs. Andrews said to her husband, 
“That English lady — Mrs. Owen is her name — told 
me that while here we must visit the Arabian bazaar 
and also the beautiful convent of the Greek Catho- 
lics. But most interesting of all, of course, will be 
the house of Simon the Tanner. I care more to see 
that than anything else. ’ ’ 

“The gentle Dorcas lived here in Joppa, yuu will 
remember,” said Mr. Andrews. “But I have read 
that no one knows where her home was. Probably, 
[ 18 ] 


COMING INTO PORT 


people say, it was in one of the garden orchards 
aronnd the city/’ 

“What a beautiful woman she was, always think- 
ing and working for others!” said Mrs. Andrews, 
softly. “This evening, children,” she went on, turn- 
ing to the twins, “we must get out our Bibles and 
look up the references to Dorcas in the New Testa- 
ment. And we will read again the story in the Acts 
of the Apostles of Peter raising her to life.” 

“And also,” added Mr. Andrews, “we had best 
refresh our minds by reading whatever the Bible 
has to tell us about Jaffa, or Joppa as it is written 
there. ’ ’ 

“But now,” he said cheerily, “I must go out in 
search of a trusty dragoman who shall guide us in 
our wanderings through Palestine. “Joe, you may 
go with me, if you like.” 


[ 19 ] 




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CHAPTER III 


SIGHT-SEEING IN JAFFA 


HAT sport I declared Joe, as he patted 



^ * the hack of the donkey on which he was 
riding. 

“Mine is such a patient little beastie!^’ replied 
Lucy. “It seems more like living in the long-ago 
to go about in this way instead of on horseback. ’ ^ 

“I can’t say I enjoy those ugly curs,” Joe said 
rather crossly, pointing to some dirty looking, rough- 
haired dogs that were snarling and harking in his 
pathway. 

“Poor things! Aunt Nell says they haven’t any 
homes, and keep themselves from starving by eating 
the garbage which the people here throw out into 
the streets.” 

“Then they are a blessing to the place, I suppose. 
If it were not for them, there would be a terrible lot 
of sickness.” 

“I didn’t tell you, though, of what I saw yester- 
day afternoon while out with uncle,” Joe went on, 
laughing mischievously. “It seems that the dogs of 
one quarter can’t venture into another one without 


[ 21 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 


there being a fierce quarrel. And, Oh, Gimini! I 
ran into one of those fights. It’s good you weren’t 
with us. You’d have been scared, Lucy. But I en- 
joyed the excitement. Everybody had to push back 
against the walls of the buildings to let the animals 
have the field to themselves.” 

“And didn’t any one try to stop them?” 

Joe shook his head. 

‘ ‘ Then I suppose some of them got dreadfully hurt 
before the fight ended.” 

“Yes, Uncle and I stayed long enough to see the 
two intruders go off limping and howling. The leg 
of one of them had been bitten into so badly that he 
left a streak of blood on the ground behind him. ’ ’ 

“Poor creature!” Lucy looked so sad that Joe 
hastened to divert her. 

‘ ‘ Don ’t you like our dragoman ? ” he asked. ‘ ‘ Un- 
cle Ben thinks he is a prize. He is a Syrian, but 
speaks English real well. He told Uncle he used 
to live in Boston. He went there as a boy, but came 
back here to earn his living by being a guide for 
tourists. This morning, as we were starting out, 
he said to me, ‘Oh! Oh! Your country is so cold 
in the winter, I could not stand it.’ Then he made 
his teeth chatter, and laughed.” 

“I like him, he is so pleasant. I wonder what 
he’s telling Uncle and Auntie now.” Lucy’s eyes 
were fastened on the dragoman, who was riding 
[ 22 ] 


SIGHT-SEEING IN JAFFA 


close beside Mr. and Mrs. Andrews, and talking and 
gesturing at the same time. 

“I guess he’s explaining who those children are.” 
Joe motioned towards a group of boys and girls who 
were coming out of a doorway. The boys wore red 
fezzes and long cotton robes that looked like bath- 
gowns. The girls had veils of flower-figured cloth 
on their heads ; but the veils were drawn back from 
their faces so the travelers could see the bright black 
eyes and dark skins of the owners. 

“All the children have wooden clogs on their feet 
and no stockings,” said Joe, running his eyes over 
their figures. 

“And every one carries a bag,” added Lucy. 

“They must be coming from school,” said Joe. 
“They probably carry their papers and books in 
those bags.” 

Joe’s guess was right. Ameen, the dragoman, 
afterwards explained that they were children of an 
English mission school. 

The next minute the interest of the sightseers was 
turned to a grand-looking Turkish officer who rode 
past on a big white horse. He wore a funny-looking, 
fuzzy, black fez with a trimming of gold braid on the 
top; glittering decorations were pinned to his dark 
blue coat, and a big sword hung at his side. He had 
wide red stripes down the sides of his bright blue 
trousers, and his saddle and bridle were richly 
decorated. 


[ 23 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 


said Joe, when the great man had passed. 
‘T never saw such fine trappings on a horse before. 
The saddle cloth was embroidered in gold, and the 
stirrups must have been silver!” 

On through the narrow, crooked thoroughfare the 
travelers rode till they reached the bazaar where the 
people of Jaffa did their trading. Funny little 
shops were there — simply openings in high, thick 
walls of stone, or tiny stalls in which most of the 
merchants sat cross-legged. Lazy-looking men these 
were, as they haggled with their customers over the 
prices of their wares. 

“How loud they talk!” commented Mrs. Andrews. 
“And how queer their voices are!” 

“As if there were some sort of wall in the middle 
of their throats, over which the sounds tumble,” said 
Joe. “I wish I could talk Arabic.” 

“I heard you practising in bed this morning,” 
said Lucy, laughing, “but you didn’t get the queer 
thickness into your voice, Joe.” 

“Shall we leave the donkeys in the care of our 
guide and walk around?” Mrs. Andrews asked her 
husband. “I would like to purchase one or two sou- 
venirs of Jaffa.” 

“And I.” “And I,” echoed the twins. 

The result was that the travelers spent three hours 
wandering through the narrow lanes, each one of 
which contained articles of only one kind. Thus 
the shopkeepers in one lane called the Street of the 
[ 24 ] 


SIGHT-SEEING IN JAFFA 


Potters sold only earthenware jars and dishes. In 
another, the Street of the Shoemakers, shoes of all 
kinds were displayed, from dainty slippers of bright- 
colored kid for ladies, to long scarlet hoots for 
horsemen. 

“I’m sure of one thing,” Mrs. Andrews said de- 
cidedly that evening when the travelers were rest- 
ing in the courtyard of the hotel after the day’s 
doings. ‘ ‘ I don ’t like shopping in the East. ’ ’ 

“Because we had to haggle so long over what 
we wanted?” asked Joe. 

“Yes, every shopkeeper demanded outrageous 
prices to begin with. But he didn’t expect us to pay 
them. He was in no hurry, either. And we had 
to beat him down and down, and finally pretend to 
go away, before he would agree to a reasonable 
price. ’ ’ 

“I’m as pleased as I can be with what I got,” said 
Lucy delightedly. She pointed to a pair of wooden 
clogs in her lap. “Inlaid with mother-of-pearl I ” 
she cried, holding them up in the dim light of the 
kerosene lamp. 

“The straps are embroidered in silver,” said Mrs. 
Andrews, examining the clogs. “Only a rich child 
in this country would wear such beautiful ones, I’m 
sure. ’ ’ 

“I think I’ll send them to my little Portuguese 
friend, Theresa, in Rio,” said Lucy, considering. 
[ 25 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 


“Sometime, Auntie Nell, I hope you and Uncle Ben 
will meet Theresa. ’ ’ 

“And her brother, too,” added Joe quickly. “I 
wish he were here with us now. We had ever so 
many good times together in South America. He 
and I actually got to be like brothers.” 

“Uncle Ben,” said Lucy, rubbing her eyes to 
keep awake, “I’m sort of disappointed.” 

“Why, what is the matter, dear child?” Mr. An- 
drews asked anxiously. 

“It’s this way. Uncle Ben. I expected to feel 
thrilled every minute after I stepped foot in Pales- 
tine because it is the land where Christ lived. But, 
instead, I have only been able to think of the strange 
people and the strange tongue most of them speak, 
and the veiled faces of the Mohammedan women, 
and the bright colors of the garments, and the don- 
keys and the camels. ’ ’ 

‘ ‘ But we have gained a good deal during our stay 
here,” said Mrs. Andrews quietly. “We know bet- 
ter already what kind of people and customs were 
those of Palestine in the time of Jesus because the 
ways of the people, we are told, have changed little 
in the last nineteen hundred years.” 

“Besides, we have seen the house of Simon the 
Tanner,” said Joe quickly, “and we stood in the 
courtyard beside the well from which Peter must 
have drunk while he visited him.” 

“Not the house in which Simon lived,” corrected 

[ 26 ] 


SIGHT-SEEING IN JAFFA 

Mr. Andrews. “But doubtless, the house we saw 
stands on the site of Simon’s. Even now there are 
tan-yards near by.” 

“Ameen told me” — Lucy spoke earnestly — “that 
the Mohammedans say that Jesus whom they call 
Lord Isa, visited in Simon’s house, and that a 
miracle was performed there; Jesus asked God for 
food, and a table was instantly let down from heaven 
with the food he prayed for.” 

“That is only a legend, Lucy,” Mrs. Andrews re- 
minded her. 

“Uncle Ben,” said Joe, thoughtfully, “why are 
there so many different kinds of people in this one 
place? Lucy and I have met Arabs, Turks, Egyp- 
tians, negroes, in one short walk — ^to say nothing 
of Armenians and people from all over Europe.” 

“Many of them are simply passing through Jaffa 
on their way to some other place, Joe. Though the 
Holy Land is very small — and not over one hun- 
dred and fifty miles in length ” 

“Oh!” cried the twins together in astonishment. 

“Yet it lies between Europe, Asia and Africa,” 
continued their uncle. “Consequently it is a pas- 
sageway for travelers on the way from one country 
to another. So, as we travel about, we shall prob- 
ably keep on meeting people of different races just 
as we have done here.” 

“But people of different races live in Palestine 
as well as travel through it,” said Mrs. Andrews. 

[ 27 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 

‘ ‘ In our wanderings it may be well to remember how 
this came about.” 

“I know, I know!” exclaimed Lucy. “It’s be- 
cause of the different people who have ruled over it. 
I’m so glad, Uncle Ben, you told us the history of 
Palestine on the voyage. ’ ’ 

“Let me see,” said Joe, not willing to be outdone 
by his sister. “First of all, so far as we know, the 
Hebrews came here; they called it the Land of 
Canaan, and they made the people they found here 
their servants. 

“Next came the Romans; and then in the year 
637 the Arabs conquered Jerusalem and brought the 
Mohammedan religion into the country. Ugh!” Joe 
shuddered at the thought. 

“But at first the Mohammedans were kind to the 
Christians,” said Mrs. Andrews gently. 

“There wasn’t any real trouble till tribes of 
Turks, called Saracens, came in the eleventh cen- 
tury,” Joe went on. “It was terrible for the Chris- 
tians then. That is why the Crusaders came from 
Europe to the Holy Land, and fought such bloody 
battles to get it into their possession. But the Turks 
managed to keep their power over the land, and 
they hold it to this day!” Joe’s usually dancing 
eyes actually looked savage. 

“I wish they’d start a new Crusade pretty soon,” 
he cried. “I’ll soon be old enough to join one.” 

[28] 


SIGHT-SEEING IN JAFFA 


The boy jumped up and stretched himself to look 
as tall as possible. 

“My dear nephew,” cried Mrs. Andrews, looking 
at her watch, “it is getting late, and both you and 
Lucy must be tired. If we are to make an early 
start to-morrow for Jerusalem the Golden, you had 
better go to bed at once.” 

A few minutes afterwards the twins were nod- 
doing off to sleep, Joe seeming to hear the cry 
‘ ‘ Backsheesh ! ’ ’ which" had followed him in the streets 
all day, while his sister watched a train of camels 
with her mind’s eyes. The camels were bringing 
loads of wheat from Egypt, and their Arab masters 
rode at the head of the procession on little donkeys. 
The little girl, as she imagined herself riding to- 
wards them, had to turn her animal close to the wall 
to give them free passage. 


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CHAPTER IV 


THE RIDE TO JERUSALEM 


HAT odd cars!” cried Joe, settling him- 



* ^ self by a window, as the train moved 
slowly out of Jaffa. 

“I think the little compartments are real cosy,” 
said Lucy, who felt disposed to like everything this 
beautiful bright morning. “We are as ‘comfy’ here 
as if we were riding in an automobile.” 

‘ ‘ While you twins are talking, ’ ’ said Mr. An- 
drews, who sat with his wife opposite them, “your 
aunt and I are enjoying the sights we are passing. 
I don ’t believe either of you have noticed the broad 
wheat fields on either side of us.” 

“I did, anyway. Uncle,” said Joe, “but Lucy and 
I saw fields of wheat in South America far larger 
so that these don’t interest us particularly.” 

“Look, Aunt Nell!” cried Lucy. “Did you no- 
tice that girl walking in the wheat field ? She made 
me think of Ruth in the Bible. From here she 
looked patient and beautiful, just as I like to think 
of the handmaiden of Boaz long ago.” 

“What a lovely orchard!” Joe broke in. “It 


[ 31 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 

is loaded with blossoms. I think the trees are 
almond and plum.” 

“There are fig trees there, too,” added Mr. An- 
drews. 

“I wish we could stay in the Holy Land till the 
figs are ripe,” said Joe longingly. “The English 
boy we met at the hotel told me what good times 
he has in his brother’s orchard. There’s a big 
black fig tree he likes best of all. He likes to climb 
it in the early morning and feast on the fruit while 
the dew is still on it. He says it is the best ever. 
Yum! yum!” 

“Look! Look, everybody!” exclaimed Lucy^ 
She pointed to a wide field in which thousands of 
scarlet poppies gayly lifted their heads above the 
thick, tall grass. 

The train moved past them even as she spoke, 
and another beautiful sight appeared. It was a 
meadow dotted with cornflowers and yellow mari- 
golds, with lovely iris blossoms appearing here and 
there. 

“The lilies of the field,” said Mrs. Andrews 
softly, “for those were what Jesus called the iris 
flowers.” 

“We have chosen the best of all times to see 
Palestine,” said Mr. Andrews. “The heavy rains 
of the past months have come to an end, and the 
great heat of the Syrian summer has not arrived to 
bum up the land.” 


[ 32 ] 


THE RIDE TO JERUSALEM 


“We are getting into the hill country,” said Joe, 
a few minutes later. The land is rocky now and 
hardly anything is growing on it.” 

“Except olive trees,” said Lucy quickly. 

“Olive trees will grow in the rockiest soil,” ex- 
plained Mr. Andrews. “They must be a blessing 
to the poor people of Palestine because they furnish 
not only nourishing fruit but an abundance of oil.” 

“Look behind us! Quick!” cried Joe. The train 
had suddenly turned a sharp angle, and the boy 
had obtained a good view of the coastland, with 
the blue waters of the Mediterranean beyond. 

“Into those blue waters below us,” said Mrs. 
Andrews quietly, “once came ships laden with the 
cedars of Lebanon and other precious woods. And 
afterwards those woods must have been brought up 
the very hillsides over which we are now riding, for 
the building of the wonderful Temple of Solomon.” 

No further words were said for some time, when 
Joe suddenly exclaimed, “We must be nearly 
there!” 

The lad had caught a glimpse of many buildings 
crowded together. Mosques with their rounded 
domes, and tall towers, stone-walled convents, 
schools and churches were most apparent of all. 
The Holy City, standing on a table-land, high above 
the plains and valleys below, lay stretched beyond 
the travelers. 

“Oh!” said Lucy catching her breath. “If only 

[ 33 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 


Daddie and Mnmmie could be here, too,’’ she 
thought, “how happy I would be!” The little 
girl’s eyes shone with eagerness, and the dimples 
in her cheeks went and came rapidly. How strange, 
how wonderful that she was soon to walk where 
Christ had walked, and was to see places He had 
seen! 

And Joe! His thoughts came fast, too. He had 
had many adventures in his life already, “But be- 
fore me,” he said to himself, “is the Great Adven- 
ture of all.” 

As soon as the train had entered the station, 
our travelers got out and followed the dragoman 
to a hotel which seemed quite modern beside the one 
where they had stopped in Jaffa. It even had elec- 
tric lights and running water, as Joe quickly dis- 
covered. 

“I can take a real bath here,” he said with 
delight. 

“You certainly need it,” said his uncle with a 
smiling glance at his nephew’s face and hands, 
which were streaked with dust from the journey. 


[ 34 ] 


CHAPTEE V 


THE HOLY CITY 

T from New York, too.” 

“Well, I never!” Joe looked at his new friend 
in astonishment. The two hoys had met in the ho- 
tel corridor and had “picked up” an acquaintance 
at once. 

“My name is Arthur Freeman, and my father is 
a professor in one of the schools here in Jerusalem. 
We have lived at this hotel for a year, but mother 
is getting tired of it so we are going to housekeep- 
ing pretty soon.” The lad talked on as if he had 
always known Joe. But how could he help it when 
it was so good to meet another American boy of 
his own age in this strange land! 

“Can’t you go with us in our afternoon sight- 
seeing?” asked Joe, also delighted at having found 
a boy companion. 

“I’d like nothing better.” 

And then Lucy came dancing along the corridor 
with cheeks like roses, and eyes shining like stars. 

“Just t^ink, Joe!” she cried disappointedly, 
after her brother had introduced Arthur to her. 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 


“We aren’t in the Holy City at all. We are on the 
outside.” 

“This is the outer Jerusalem, to be sure” — Ar- 
thur smiled — ‘ ‘ and the newer part, you must under- 
stand, which has been built up since old times. The 
up-to-date shops and hotels and houses are here.” 

“I don’t care about them. I want to see the Jeru- 
salem of the Bible,” said Lucy eagerly. 

“You shall see it shortly,” said her uncle, com- 
ing up behind her. “Our dragoman is waiting to 
show us around. Let us start at once.” 

A short walk brought the travelers to the gray 
walls dividing the old Jerusalem from the new. 

“Every city had to be protected by strong walls 
in the long ago,” Mr. Andrews explained to the 
twins. “It was the only way in which the dwellers 
there could feel safe from the fierce tribes and 
bands of robbers that roamed over the country.” 

“What a busy place ! ” exclaimed Joe, as the party 
arrived at the famous JafiPa Gate opening into the 
Holy City. 

“So different from what I expected,” declared 
Lucy. “But then, everything always is.” 

Arthur laughed, wishing at the same time he had 
such a pretty sister as Joe had. 

The Jaffa Gate was indeed a busy place. Just 
inside was a little market place where peasants had 
come from the country round about to sell the fruit 
and vegetables they raised on their land. 

[ 36 ] 



Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. F. 


“JUST INSIDE THE GATE WAS A LITTLE MARKET PLACE'* 






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THE HOLY CITY 


“That dark-skinned woman selling tomatoes and 
cucumbers is from Bethany,” Arthur whispered to 
the twins. 

“And those others next her are women from Beth- 
lehem,” the lad explained a moment afterwards. 
“I know them by their striped gowns and their 
long veils.” 

“How straight they walk and how heavily-laden 
the baskets are, yet they carry them on their heads 
as lightly as if they were empty,” replied Lucy. 

Then she drew to one side as a line of donkeys 
laden with vegetables passed her. The animals 
were guided by boys wearing white shirts gathered 
in by broad red belts. 

“You ought to be here in mid-summer,” Arthur 
told the twins as they went on. “Then it is hard 
work to get through the market place at the Jaffa 
Gate because the peddlers almost block it up with 
piles of melons and oranges and lemons and pome- 
granates — oh, and ever so many other kinds of fruit. 
And how you would enjoy the smell of the roses 
then! They are brought here in millions — yes, in 
millions, and sold by the pound to people who make 
attar of roses out of them.” 

“Oh-h!” sighed Lucy in longing tones, as the 
rose was her favorite flower. 

On moved the party through narrow, dirty 
streets, Ameen, the dragoman, guiding them ever 
[ 37 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 


upwards till they reached the summit of a hill on 
which stood a beautiful Mohammedan mosque. 

“This is indeed holy land,’’ said Mr. Andrews 
reverently, “because on this very spot the wondrous 
Temple of Solomon once stood in all its glory.” 

“And now — now!” said Mrs. Andrews in a low 
tone. Her eyes were busy watching some Moham- 
medan worshipers who were removing their slippers 
before entering the building. 

“Millions of people have worshiped here in the 
years that have gone by,” said Mr. Andrews 
thoughtfully. “And many thousands of Christians, 
without doubt, have met a terrible and bloody death 
on this spot.” 

“But it must have been a happy time for the 
people. Uncle Ben,” said Joe, “when the Temple 
was built.” The boy did not like to brood on sad 
happenings. 

“Indeed yes, my lad. Without sound of saw or 
hammer, we are told, its walls rose higher and 
higher till no building in the world was like unto 
it for majesty. The richest woods and most pre- 
cious metals were used without stint. ’ ’ 

“The upper rooms were all of gold,” said Lucy 
dreamily. Her eyes were half-closed. She was 
trying to see the marvelous Temple in her fancy. 

“Within the walls of the Temple, over there to 
the west, stood the Tabernacle, ’ ’ Mr. Andrews went 
on. “It was shaped like a tent so as to be a con- 
[ 38 ] 


THE HOLY CITY 


stant reminder of the tabernacle Moses had set up 
in the wilderness.” 

“Father has told me,” said Arthur, “that the 
Temple was destroyed and rebuilt more than once. 
But he said that though a Mohammedan mosque 
now stands in this place, he wanted me to remember 
that the voice of Jesus Christ was once heard here.” 

“Thank you, Arthur, for speaking of that,” said 
Mrs. Andrews with a bright smile. “When I go 
home I shall carry your words with me.” 

After spending a few minutes inside the mosque, 
admiring its lofty dome and beautiful stained-glass 
windows, the travelers followed Ameen around out- 
side to the bottom of one of the walls of the old 
Temple enclosure. There they discovered a number 
of Jews leaning heavily against the big, time-worn 
stones, weeping. Nearby were other Jews praying 
loudly and earnestly. 

“You may find Jews here at almost any time, 
but especially on their Sabbath,” Ameen explained 
in a low tone. “These walls are all that remains 
to-day of the Temple of Solomon, and the Jews 
come to weep over their days of former glory, and 
to pray for the time when Jerusalem shall be theirs 
once more.” 

As the sightseers went on their way, Arthur said 
to Joe, “The longer you stay in Jerusalem, the more 
bad feeling you will find among the people of 
different faiths. It is a good thing that the Jews 
[391 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 


live mainly in one quarter, the Mohammedans in an- 
other, and the Christians in still another.” 

The two hoys, who had been lagging behind, now 
quickened their pace to join the rest of the party 
as they entered the Via Dolorosa, or Way of 
Sorrows. 

“Along this very pathway,” said Ameen, “Jesus 
must often have walked. Somewhere along this 
way stood the Court of Pilate from out which went 
the mocked Christ bearing the Cross.” 

The children were very quiet as they moved along 
the Way of Sorrows, stopping for a moment at the 
different places where Christ rested on His way to 
be crucified. 

The dragoman came to a standstill at the foot of 
the steps leading into the barracks. 

“It was at this very place,” he explained, “that 
the cross was laid upon our Master, and which He 
carried for His crucifixion. ’ ’ 

Tears came into Lucy’s eyes. How terribly real 
the story of His sufferings seemed now. He who 
so loved little children and said, ‘ ‘ Suffer little chil- 
dren, and forbid them not to come unto me : for of 
such is the Kingdom of Heaven,” had here taken 
up the cross on which He was to be crucified for 
their sake. 

And Joe, dancing-eyed, merry-hearted Joe! There 
was a queer choking in his throat which he tried 
to push back. At the same time he was thinking, 
[ 40 ] 


THE HOLY CITY 


“I’m going to try harder than ever before to love 
everybody. That is what He would have me do.” 

Only a few steps farther on the party passed un- 
der an arch which crossed the street. “Here,” said 
Ameen, “is where Pilate cried to the crowd gath- 
ered about Jesus, ‘Behold the man!’ ” 

“How weak Pilate was!” cried Mr. Andrews in- 
dignantly. “He did not dare spare the life of the 
Master himself. But he weakly hoped that wheii 
he gave the Master into the hands of the people, 
their anger might be changed into pity.” 

On moved the travelers slowly, thoughtfully, stop- 
ping for a moment at the spot where Jesus was said 
to have fainted under his load, and again at the 
place where he spoke to the weeping women of 
Jerusalem, telling them not to shed tears for him, 
but for themselves and their children. 

“Now,” said the dragoman at last, after the party 
had turned into Christ Street, “we stand before 
the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, most sacred of 
all buildings in the world, because here, when His 
agony was over, He was laid to rest.” 

“But you must understand,” Arthur reminded 
the twins, “this isn’t the same church that stood 
here when Christ was alive. Probably several dif- 
ferent churches have been built in this place since 
the time of Jesus. Father says that this one can 
mean as much to us, though, as if it had stood 
[ 41 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 

through the centuries. It is full of the thought of 
Christ, you know. ’ ’ 

“Listen!” cried Joe with excited interest, “ped- 
dlers are crying their wares here in the square, 
right here in front of the church! They make me 
think of the money changers whom Jesus drove out 
of the temple.” 

“I’m sure Auntie won’t buy anything in a place 
as sacred as this,” said Lucy indignantly. 

“Backsheesh! Backsheesh!” cried a ragged, 
dark-skinned boy behind her. She had not noticed 
the little boy and was startled. 

Arthur, with a smile, put a small coin in the 
hands of the boy, who immediately ran off to beg 
from a richly-dressed Armenian lady who had just 
entered the square. 

“The church is closed now,” the dragoman ex- 
plained to Mr. Andrews, who had asked if it would 
be possible to enter. “To-morrow we will come 
earlier, and then you shall all examine it. There 
is much to see inside.” 

“I wouldn’t care to go along the Via Dolorosa 
alone at night,” Lucy told her brother and Arthur 
as they made their way back to the hotel. 

“Why?” asked Arthur, though he instantly 
guessed what was in the little girl’s mind. 

“It must be very, very dark.” Lucy shuddered. 
“The road is so rough and uneven, it is hard enough 
to keep from stumbling in the daytime, while the 
[ 42 ] 


THE HOLY CITY 


walls on each side, with the fine grated windows 
and narrow doorways in them, make me feel as if 
I were in an endless sort of prison. And then the 
many stone archways overhead ! I should be afraid 
of tumbling over some ugly, sleeping dog, or meet- 
ing a robber!” 

“Though I’m a boy, I have no wish to walk 
through the Way of Sorrows at night,” Arthur ad- 
mitted. “If I were obliged to do so, I’d carry a 
lantern, and would give many a glance over my 
shoulder to see if I were followed.” 


[ 43 ] 




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CHAPTER VI 


THE HOLY SEPULCHRE 

A RTHUR and I are going to follow the walls 

^ around the city this morning,” said Joe, sud- 
denly appearing in the doorway of the family’s pri- 
vate sitting room at the hotel. 

“You can’t keep close to them all the time,” said 
his uncle, looking up from an outline he had been 
making of future travels about Palestine. 

“I know it. Uncle, hut we’ll keep as close as we 
can. Arthur knows the shortest way, and we shan’t 
have to walk three miles to get back to where we 
started from.” 

Lucy looked up from the book she had been read- 
ing with longing in her eyes. She wanted Joe to 
ask her to go, too. 

“You are best off right here this hot morning, 
Lucy,” said her aunt, catching the look. “You have 
been on the go continually for the past three days. 
The walk will be hot and dusty. Why not write 
some letters while Joe is away?” 

“All right.” The pucker left Lucy’s forehead 

[ 45 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 

and her eyes smiled once more. ‘‘I guess this is a 
good time to write to Theresa.’’ 

Joe went away whistling softly. He was very 
fond of his sister, hut once in a while it was pleasant 
to go olf for a care-free tramp with a boy, and he 
enjoyed Arthur’s company more and more. 

The next minute Lucy had settled herself on the 
deep window-seat and was busy telling her little 
friend in far-away Brazil what she had been seeing 
in the Holy City. 

“Dear, darling Theresa,” she wrote, “whenever 
I have time to think about you I miss you very 
much. How I wish you could have seen what I have 
been seeing the last few days ! You can hardly imag- 
ine how wonderful it seems to be in the very place 
where Christ once lived. 

“Theresa, dear, I went yesterday to the Church 
of the Holy Sepulchre. Though it isn’t exactly the 
same building that stood on that spot in the long 
ago, it is full of reminders of what happened to 
Him there. 

“After we had crossed the courtyard in front of 
the church, we passed through a portal and saw 
some Turkish soldiers on guard. Think of it, 
Theresa! Those men were smoking and drinking 
coffee in that holy place. 

“After we had passed the guard we found our- 
selves in front of a large stone on which our drago- 
man told us the body of Jesus had been placed after 
[ 46 ] 


THE HOLY SEPULCHRE 


the Crucifixion. Nicodemus and Joseph of Arima- 
thea wound the body as it lay there, you will remem- 
ber, in linen cloths, with a mixture of myrrh and 
aloes. And Theresa! that stone has been actually 
worn away along the edges by the kisses of Chris- 
tian pilgrims who have visited it since that time ! 

“A few steps farther on, we entered the rotunda 
of the church. There, under the immense dome, is 
the chapel of the Sepulchre. The Sepulchre itself 
is a small marble building as large as a good-sized 
room. Many lamps hang there and are kept burn- 
ing night and day. 

^‘On the east side of the rotunda is a low door 
opening into the Angel’s Chapel, whose walls are 
very thick and crusted with marble on both sides. 
In the center of this chapel is a stone encased in 
marble. 

“ ‘You now look,’ explained our dragoman, ‘on 
the stone on which the angel sat after he had rolled 
it away from the Sepulchre.’ 

“Fifteen big lamps hang from the walls of the 
Angel’s Chapel, and they are kept burning all the 
time. 

“There are many other chapels in the Church of 
the Holy Sepulchre. One of them is the Chapel of 
the Raising of the Cross. Our guide led us to the 
apse, where he showed us an opening lined with 
silver. ‘Here,’ said he, ‘the Cross was inserted. 
‘And there,’ he went on, pointing to two places on 
[ 47 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 


either side, ‘the two thieves were crucified beside 
our Lord/ The man evidently believes Jesus was 
crucified in the place where the Church of the Holy 
Sepulchre stands, though there is little doubt that 
He was led to a hill outside the city and was there 
put to death. 

“Before stopping my description I really must 
tell you that before we left the church, our drago- 
man showed us a broken stone column which he said 
marks the center of the world! He also took us 
into the Chapel of Adam, where according to an old 
legend, Adam was buried, and there he lay till the 
Crucifixion, when the blood of Jesus flowed down 
through a rent in the rocks, and touching Adam’s 
head, brought him to life. What strange stories 
people tell, don’t they? 

“This is a long letter, isn’t it? But I really must 
mention the Easter celebration in the Church of the 
Holy Sepulchre. Joe, who likes excitement, as you 
know, is dreadfully sorry we arrived in Jerusalem 
too late to see it, but Uncle Ben says he would not 
have let us join the tremendous crowd that gathers 
in the church on that day. 

“Many thousands of pilgrims, mostly Greek 
Catholics, arrive in Jerusalem for this celebration 
which is called the Festival of the Easter Fire. 

“At a certain moment the priest sticks a lighted 
torch through a hole in the wall of the Sepulchre. 
Then the Greek Catholics, carrying tapers, vie 
[ 48 ] 


THE HOLY SEPULCHRE 


with each other in trying to light them from the 
flame which they look upon as sacred. There is a 
terrible struggle, and many people are trodden upon 
and injured. But it is remarkable, Ameen says, 
how fast the tapers are lighted. Then how the 
people shout for joy! They actually kiss the flame 
they have obtained, and hug it. And not one of them 
will afterwards admit he has been burnt! It must 
be a wild sight. I’d rather hear about it than see it. 
But Joe, being a boy, is different from me. 

“Dear me! it is lunch time, and Auntie is calling 
to me to get ready for it. So good-by for now, from 
“Your loving friend, 

“Lucy.’^ 

As the little girl wrote the last word Joe came 
bounding into the room. His cheeks were flushed 
and his clothes covered with dust, but his eyes shone 
with excitement. 

“Lucy, I think camels are the ugliest creatures 
I ever saw. Arthur and I were nearly home when 
we met a Syrian peasant leading a camel. The beast 
had a load of vegetables on his back, but I think 
it couldn’t have been very heavy. 

“Just as we boys were abreast of him, his master 
bent down to fix the strap which kept the load in 
place. Quick as a flash, out came the camel’s hind 
leg that was nearest the man, and sent him flying. 
He fell at our feet, with the wits knocked out of 
[ 49 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 

him. The next minute we found ourselves in the 
midst of a big crowd pushing and crying and ges- 
ticulating in the way of these orientals!” 

“But the man? Did he come to his senses, Joe?” 
Lucy asked quickly. 

“Not for ten minutes or so. And then he seemed 
dazed. He started to get on his feet, hut one of his 
legs had evidently been broken, and he groaned and 
fell hack.” 

“But the camel? What was he doing all the 
time ? ’ ’ 

“Standing still as a monument, but blinking his 
eyes viciously and slowly stretching his neck from 
side to side, as if little creatures like men didn’t 
interest him at all except to get them as far out of 
his way as possible.” 

“How sorry I am for that poor peasant! I hope 
he was carried to a hospital.” 

“Yes. Arthur and I stood watching till a rude 
stretcher had been made, and the man was carried 
oif. I say, Lucy, I’m glad I’m an American!” 

“Of course. But what makes you think of that 
just now?” Lucy looked at her brother wonder- 
ingly. 

“Because poor and sick people, even here in 
Jerusalem, have better care because of the thought 
and the money of kind-hearted people of the United 
States.” 

“Good! good!” cried a man’s voice behind the 

[ 50 ] 


THE HOLY SEPULCHRE 


twins. They had been so busy talking they had not 
noticed their uncle ^s entrance. “But come!” he 
went on. “Your aunt and I have been waiting in 
the lobby for you to go to lunch with us for the last 
quarter of an hour.” 


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CHAPTER VII 


JOE^S ADVENTUEES IN JERUSALEM 

'IT^HILE you write to Daddy and Mummie,” 
^ ^ Joe said, turning to his sister, ‘‘I’ll get 
oil a letter to Carlos. I haven’t written to him for 
so long, he will be wondering if I have forgotten 
him.” 

It was the last evening of the stay in Jerusalem. 
Mr. Andrews and his wife had gone out for a little 
walk, leaving the twins to entertain themselves. 

“All right. But I wish Arthur would join us. It 
is pleasant to have his company even while we are 
busy.” 

And then came a knock at the door, and Arthur 
entered the room, bringing his arithmetic with him. 
“I have lots of problems to do,” he said. “That is, 
father said, if I am to have to-morrow free to go 
to Bethlehem with you. But I thought I could do 
my work here if we don’t stop to talk too much.” 
The boy laughed mischievously. 

“That suits Lucy and me first rate,” said Joe. 
“We must each write a long letter, but after that 
[ 53 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 


we three can play games. And auntie said Lucy 
and I might sit up a little later than usual. ’ ’ 

“IVe told you, I guess, how different the games, 
over here are from our own,” said Arthur thought- 
fully. “Even the tops and kites are different. If 
I stay in Palestine much longer. I’ll have to learn 
American ways all over again. But I haven’t for- 
gotten yet how to play ‘Everlasting’ and ‘Old 
Maid.’ ” 

“You have beaten me every time — I know that,” 
said Lucy with a roguish smile. 

“To work! to work!” cried Joe with pretended 
earnestness. ‘ ‘ ‘ First we study, then we play ! ’ our 
old primary school song ran. ’ ’ 

A minute afterwards two fountain pens and a 
long lead pencil were busily at work. 

Lucy, as it happened, had finished writing her 
letter and Arthur had solved his last example be- 
fore Joe’s pen came to a standstill. 

“You’ll have to pay a fine for keeping us wait- 
ing,” Arthur told him with a sly glance at Lucy. 

“If it is easy. I’ll agree, but if it’s hard ” 

“Oh, we’ll make it easy, won’t we, Lucy? You 
must read your letter aloud,” Arthur said quickly. 

“Well — not to waste time talking about it, here 
goes!” said Joe, stretching back in his chair and 
unfolding three sheets of paper covered with big 
boyish handwriting. 

“Dear old Chum,” he read, “Away off here in 

[541 


JOE’S ADVENTURES IN JERUSALEM 


Palestine as I am, I’m wondering what you have 
been doing since I heard from you. Have you been 
having wonderful adventures such as we two had 
together when we sailed up the Amazon and watched 
wild Indians dancing by moonlight? 

“My adventures now-a-days are of a different 
kind — they don’t give the same kind of thrills; hut 
they are even more wonderful, because they take me 
back to the place long ago where Jesus had his 
home. It seems hard to believe it, Carlos, but the 
Holy City has been built over and over twenty times 
since those days. War after war has been fought 
here. Here the Crusaders came in their shining 
suits of armor, riding their high-spirited horses, 
and hoping to save Jerusalem from the power of 
the Turk. Gee! but I wish I could have been with 
them, don’t you? 

“Here the Jews keep coming from all parts of 
the earth to weep and pray beside the only stones of 
Solomon’s Temple that are still standing. And here 
Christians come — thousands of them every year — ■ 
to worship in the Holy City. 

“Arthur Freeman — (he’s a fine boy from dear 
old New York, who boards in the same hotel with 
us) and I followed the walls of Jerusalem the other 
day as closely as we could. Arthur pointed out the 
different gates that open into the city. Some of 
them are closed now — for instance, the Golden Gate 
[ 55 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 


through which Christ rode, with the people spread- 
ing palms in His way and crying Hosanna. 

“A little way below the Jaffa Gate is the Citadel 
of Jerusalem with five square towers. Herod’s 
palaces and gardens used to be nearby. Arthur told 
me that Herod is said to have had immense cavern- 
stables in Jerusalem, which were afterwards used 
by the Crusaders for their own horses. They must 
have been cool resting places for the animals on 
hot summer days, that is certain. Now, however, 
the beautiful Mosque of Omar stands on the ground 
under which the stables used to be. It is a beauti- 
ful mosque with a green dome that shines in the 
sunlight and can be seen a long distance from the 
city. 

“The Damascus Gate is the handsomest one of 
all. It has tall towers on either side. Arthur and I 
went through the bazaars along the Street of the 
Damascus Gate. Not much like the streets of Rio! 
It is a narrow lane under stone arches, as dark 
as a hole in the ground, and the shops are dingy, 
tumble-down little dens on each side. In these the 
tradesmen squat all day long in front of their wares 
— olives and olive-oil, grain and nuts and honey; 
pipes and tobacco ; wonderful silks from Damascus ; 
saddles of all kinds, plain for the poor people and 
richly ornamented ones for the rich; and fruit that 
would make your mouth water even if you do live 
in Brazil where it is so plentiful. 

[ 56 ] 



Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y, 

THE GOLDEN GATE, THROUGH WHICH CHRIST RODE, IS CLOSED NOW 



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JOE’S ADVENTURES IN JERUSALEM 


“For all the interesting things to see, Arthur 
and I were glad when we got away from the bazaars, 
where the air was so' bad one could cut it, as 
Americans say, the mud stuck to our shoes and the 
noise of the merchants shouting their wares and 
haggling with their customers actually made my 
ears ache. Your dainty little sister would not en- 
joy shopping in Jerusalem any more than Lucy and 
Aunt Nell do. 

“Oh, but there’s so much to tell about Jerusalem! 
For one thing, we have all visited the Pool of 
Siloam, where Jesus sent the blind man to wash and 
get back his sight. Isn’t it too bad that the Pool 
is full of muddy water to-day, its sides fallen in, and 
the steps leading down to it a perfect wreck? I told 
Uncle Ben that I hope Americans will fix it up 
some day — that is, if the Turks will let them. 

“You will certainly want to hear about the trip 
we took yesterday. We went to the Mount of Olives 
and stopped to rest in the Garden of Gethsemane! 

“We left Jerusalem in the early morning and 
rode down the hillside and across the Valley of the 
Kedron; and soon afterwards stood at the gateway 
of the Garden low down on a slope of the Mount. 
You may just believe none of us felt like talking 
as we entered it. There, under the olive trees, I 
thought of what Christ suffered in that very place, 
and my teeth set hard when I pictured Judas steal- 
ing in to betray his Master. 

[ 57 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 


“Our dragoman pointed out to us the spot where 
Jesus prayed, and where His disciples probably slept 
while He kept His watch. 

“After we left the Garden we climbed to the 
very top of the Mount, where we were so high up 
we could look down on Jerusalem across the way. 
Over to the east of us lay the Dead Sea, which we 
shall visit later. Before we left we had a good view 
of the Wilderness of Judaea, the River Jordan, and 
the town of Bethlehem to which we shall ride to- 
morrow. 

“Weill I see that Arthur and Lucy are waiting 
for me to stop, so good-by and so-long, 

“Your chum, 
“Joe.” 

Soon after he began reading Mr. and Mrs. An- 
drews had come in from their walk and quietly 
seated themselves to listen. 

“Well done, Joe!” said his uncle as he finished. 
“There are different ways of studying, and I rather 
think you and Lucy are learning as much in your 
travels as you would in a grammar school of New 
York.” 

“More!” added Mrs. Andrews, softly, patting 
her nephew’s head. 


[ 58 ] 


CHAPTER VIII 


ON A SYRIAN ROADSIDE 

fT is a good carriage road all the way,” said 
Arthur. 

“But it is a heap better to ride to Bethlehem 
donkey back,” declared Joe. “To go in an up-to- 
date carriage wouldn’t suit me at all.” 

“I feel like a circus rider,” said Lucy with a 
laugh, pointing to her own snow-white donkey. 
‘ ‘ Trappings of silver and bright red leather ! How 
people in New York would stare at me if I were 
riding down Fifth Avenue in this style ! ’ ’ 

“But you aren’t,” said Joe, “and the old shep- 
herd resting under that fig tree doesn’t take his 
eyes oif his flock to notice you. Even his dog only 
looked our way once to make sure we meant no 
harm.” 

The three children had let their elders keep ahead 
ever since they had left Jerusalem an hour before, 
and Arthur, being in a talkative mood, had told the 
twins many a story of his life in Palestine. 

“Shepherds must get ever so lonely,” said Joe, 
when they had passed the old Syrian. “Think of 
[ 59 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 


that one staying all day on a rocky hillside in the 
hot sunshine with no one to talk to, and obliged to 
watch his sheep every minute lest they wander off 
and get into trouble.” 

“But shepherds love their flocks,” Arthur an- 
swered quickly. “I have talked with a number of 
them in my tramps about the country. The fact is, 
you can’t go far in the Holy Land without meeting 
a shepherd and his sheep. Every minute he is on 
the lookout for enemy wolves or jackals. He always 
carries a stout club with a big knob at the end 
studded with nails, with which to defend his flock. ’ ’ 

“Even then, I suppose a dog is needed,” said 
Lucy. “The one we just passed looked like such a 
faithful creature. He was on the go every minute 
trying to keep the flock together. ’ ’ 

“Faithful! I should say!” said Arthur quickly. 
“Why, the sheep-dogs sometimes lose their lives in 
a battle with a big gray wolf, or a hyena, or a jackal. 

“Such fights generally come at night, of course, 
after the sheep have been gathered into the fold, 
and the enemy has crept up and made his way over 
the stone wall or thorn-hedge that pens them in, or 
pawed away the stones in the opening of some cave 
into which the shepherd has driven them for the 
night’s rest. 

“Sometimes even in broad daylight, a hungry 
wolf attacks a sheep, or maybe a playful little lamb 
which has wandered aside from the flock. Then, you 
[ 60 ] 


ON A SYRIAN ROADSIDE 


may believe, the faithful dog is upon him in a flasli. 
I saw such a fight with my own eyes last year/^ 

“You did!” cried Joe and Lucy together. 

“Yes, but it didn’t last long, though the wolf’s 
jaws were all ready to grip the neck of the prettiest 
little lamb — how you would have loved it, Lucy — 
when the dog pounced upon him from one side and 
the shepherd came rushing upon him from the other. 

‘ ‘ But when the attack is at night, and the attacker 
is a whole band of wolves — wow! there isn’t much 
chance for the dog’s life then.” 

“Look!” said Joe in a low tone. His eyes were 
turned toward a peasant eating his lunch under a 
sycamore tree. 

‘ ‘ He must be a road-mender — ^his tools are beside 
him,” said Arthur. 

“He seems to be enjoying himself just now,” 
said Lucy. “I wonder what he is eating — it looks 
like a sandwich.” 

“It ^5 a sandwich,” Arthur explained, “and it is a 
loaf of bread split open with probably lentils or 
onions or dried figs between.” 

“A loaf of bread?” Joe laughed at the idea. 

“Yes. The natives here bake their bread in 
round, flat cakes or loaves, and a hungry workman 
eats three or four of them at one meal. Before you 
leave Palestine you will have to see how the women 
make the bread.” 

The children had scarcely passed the road-mender 

[ 61 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 


when they came upon a queer sight — a camel resting 
beside a patch of cactus plants, and feeding on the 
thick, thorny leaves. His master stood nearby, pa- 
tiently waiting for him to finish his lunch. 

“The inside of a camel’s mouth must be pretty 
tough, if he can eat food like the thorny cactus,” re- 
marked Joe. 

“I have seen goats as well as camels eat cactus 
leaves. ’ ’ As Arthur spoke he laughed at the pucker 
in Joe’s forehead. “You look as if the thorns were 
pricking your tongue and not a camel’s,” he went on. 

“Bethlehem!” called back Mr. Andrews. “The 
birthplace of our Lord lies just ahead of us.” 

“Up hill and down dale we have traveled for 
two hours at least,” Lucy’s aunt said to her as the 
little girl rode up to her side. 

“But I have enjoyed every minute,” Lucy de- 
clared, “and now how pretty Bethlehem looks up 
on that hillside — the prettiest village I’ve noticed 
in the Holy Land yet!” 

“You can now see the Church of the Nativity 
quite plainly,” said Ameen, pointing to a church 
with convents around it. 

“Those convents,” he went on, “belong to differ- 
ent Christian sects, the Greek, the Latin, and the 
Armenian, and each sect has a share in the church 
and quarrels with the others about it.” 

‘Can we visit the church first of all?” Lucy asked 

[ 62 ] 


ON A SYRIAN ROADSIDE 


eagerly as the party entered the village. “It seems 
as if I couldn’t wait.” 

“Suppose we have lunch first,” proposed Mr. 

Andrews. “We are tired and warm and ” He 

turned with a smile to Joe to end the sentence for 
him. 

“Hungry,” promptly said the lad, patting his 
stomach. 

“Right you are,” agreed Arthur. 

“And just ahead of us is a clump of olive trees 
which will give us shade,” said Ameen. 

A few minutes afterwards the travelers were set- 
tled comfortably under the olive trees, a little back 
from the road, but near enough to watch the 
passers-by. 

“This thermos bottle doesn’t seem in keeping with 
the place,” said Mrs. Andrews, as she filled a drink- 
ing cup with water from it. 

“No, a gourd is the thing,” said Joe. “I wish 
I had one like the one I saw beside the old shep- 
herd we passed.” 

“I never yet saw a shepherd without his gourd 
and scrip,” said Arthur. “More than once I have 
shared the food carried in a scrip, and enjoyed it, 
too. Bread, with cheese made out of goats’ milk, 
olives, and raisins or figs make a tasty meal for any 
one. ’ ’ 

“Indeed yes!” As Mr. Andrews spoke he took 

[ 63 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 


a bunch of the delicious Syrian raisins from the 
lunch box and held it up admiringly. 

‘ ‘ For one, I never could get tired of olives, ’ ’ said 
Lucy as she put one in her mouth. 

As she spoke two tall, handsome women passed 
by on the roadside. They had been to a well not 
far away and were bringing back on their shoulders 
jars filled with water. 

“All over the Holy Land you will meet water- 
carriers,” explained Ameen. “Nearly all the water 
used in most village homes is brought in jars from 
wells or springs.” 

“How straight the women walk!” said Mr. An- 
drews. “And how graceful they are!” 

‘ ‘ What pretty gowns they wear ! ’ ’ said Lucy. ‘ ‘ So 
loose and comfortable!” 

“Do the women here always wear outer garments 
of bright colors flowing loosely back from over white 
robes beneath, and bound in at the waist with gir- 
dles?” Mrs. Andrews asked Ameen. 

“Such is the fashion here,” the man answered. 
“Bethlehem, the ‘House of Bread,’ is a pleasant 
place to live in,” he went on. “The men are good- 
natured and merry. The women are beautiful. The 
life is easy; many of the folks support themselves, 
as you will find, by selling souvenirs of the town to 
the tourists who come here.” 

“Look! look!” said Joe suddenly. He pointed to 
a band of Russian pilgrims who were coming down 
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Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, iV. Y, 

‘ALL OVER THE HOLY LAND YOU WILL MEET WATER-CARRIERS 





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the road. The men had long beards, and wore loose 
dark coats. The women’s faces were sad and earn- 
est. They wore kerchiefs about their heads. Most 
of the pilgrims were old and supported themselves 
with staffs. 

“They want to visit the birthplace of our Savior 
before they die, ’ ’ explained Ameen. Then they will 
go home satisfied.” 

“In my last letter to Daddie and Mummie,” said 
Lucy, “I told them about the Vale of Jehoshaphat, 
below Jerusalem, where thousands of Jews lie 
buried. What a funny notion that Jews should be- 
lieve when the end of the world comes that par- 
ticular vale should he the place for people to come 
to life in!” 

“While you are talking, twin dear,” said Joe, 
mischievously, “you are missing something worth 
while. ’ ’ 

“What? where?” Lucy looked excitedly up and 
down the road. No one was in sight. 

Then, at the sound of children’s voices, she 
jumped up and turned towards the fields back of 
the olive grove. An odd procession was drawing 
near. It was composed of boys and girls. They had 
evidently just formed into a make-believe wedding 
procession. As the travelers stood up to watch 
them, two of the boys began to heat on drums; 
two others put reed pipes to their mouths to play. 
On came the procession straight towards the grove, 
[ 65 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 
shouting and singing, dancing gayly about the child 
bride and groom, who were “dressed up” to look 
as much as possible as if they were about to take 
part in a real wedding. 

“Isn’t the bride a darling?” Lucy whispered to 
her aunt. “She’s as pretty as a picture, and the 
wreaths of flowers and the veil, even if it is coarse 
muslin, make her prettier still. ’ ’ 

The on-coming children had discovered the trav- 
elers by this time, and with still livelier laughs and 
shouts, danced past them and up the road. 

“Oh-h!” said Lucy, with a sigh of longing. She 
would have liked to join the procession. 

Mounting their donkeys, the party followed th^ 
direction which the little Syrians had taken, and 
soon reached the Church of the Nativity after be- 
ing stopped several times by peddlers who were in- 
sistent on selling their wares. 

‘ ‘ This is as good a time as any to get souvenirs, ’ ’ 
Mr. Andrews had told his wife good-naturedly, after 
buying a book-mark and two watch-holders made 
of olive wood. 

“Yes,” she agreed, holding up a dainty card-case 
and a jewel box of mother-of-pearl. 

“See what I bought!” Joe cried in glee, riding 
up beside his aunt. He held up a toy bench of olive 
wood, about two inches long. In the holes in the 
top three tiny clay dishes were set — two of them 
being copies of the jars in which the women got the 
[ 66 ] 



Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. K. 

“‘BETHLEHEM, THE ‘HOUSE OF BREAD/ IS A PLEASANT PLACE TO 

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ON A SYRIAN ROADSIDE 


water used in their households, and the third one 
smaller and with a short spout, shaped somewhat 
like a teapot. 

“The peddler explained in his broken English 
that a whole family drinks out of the little jug,” Joe 
went on. ‘ ‘ This is the way. ’ ’ The boy held up the 
jug quite a distance from his mouth, tipping 
the spout towards it. “There! You can imagine 
the water streaming out and down into my mouth. * * 

“That is the most interesting curio I’ve seen yet,” 
said Mrs. Andrews. “Before we leave Bethlehem 
I will certainly buy others like it to take to friends 
at home. But here we are.” 

When the party had dismounted, Ameen led the 
way inside the Church sacred to the memory of 
the Christ-child. Turkish guards stood at the en- 
trance. Joe scowled at the sight of them in the 
place so holy to Christians. They were needed, how- 
ever, the dragoman afterwards explained, because 
the different Christian sects who own the church 
often quarrel bitterly with each other. 

“They even have separate altars and places to 
worship in that one building,” Arthur whispered to 
Joe, as the hoys followed the rest of the party down 
a flight of stairs into a grotto under the church. 

“You now stand in the Chapel of the Nativity,” 
Ameen said in a reverent tone. “This grotto was 
once the cavern-stable of an inn. Here our Lord 
Jesus was born. Over there is the rock where rested 
[ 67 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 


the manger which was His only cradle. To this 
place the Wise Men came from afar, following His 
Star in the East. Look!” 

The man pointed to a silver star in the center of 
a marble slab set in the floor. The words “Here 
Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary” were 
written in Latin on the star. 

‘ ‘ The Star of Bethlehem, ’ ’ Lucy whispered to her- 
self, as all bent low before it. Above their heads, 
hanging from the low roof, sixteen silver lamps 
were burning. Around them censers sent out the 
sweet, heavy odor of incense. Pious pilgrims from 
far lands, whom the travelers had found in the 
grotto when they arrived, were kneeling about them 
in prayer, or bending over to kiss the star. It was 
a wonderful experience. Never afterwards would 
the twins forget what they felt that beautiful May 
day in Bethlehem when they seemed to live in that 
long ago time of the coming of the Christ-child. 

“Did you notice the beautiful embroidered cloths 
which covered the walls of the grotto f” Joe asked 
his sister after they had left the chapel. “And that 
many of the lamps were studded with precious 
stones?” 

Lucy shook her head. “I was busy — thinking,” 
she said slowly. “But I did notice one thing — it 
made me shiver — it was the tramping of Moslem 
soldiers coming down the stairs, and the clinking 
of their weapons.” 


[ 68 ] 


ON A SYRIAN ROADSIDE 


The travelers spent a half-hour or so in the big 
church above the chapel. They noted the tall pillars 
supporting the roof, the paved floor and the carv- 
ings on the walls. But Arthur and the twins were 
most interested in the people in the building — ^monks 
in long robes, with cowls on their heads; peasants 
from the near-by country taking part in a service 
before one of the altars; travelers from different 
lands visiting the church for the first time. 

“Where are we to go next?” Joe asked Ameen 
as the party left the building. 

“To the Milk Grotto,” said the dragoman. 

Neither Joe nor his sister had heard of the place 
before, but Arthur, who had been there, explained 
that it was a cavern fitted up as a little chapel, and 
that many people believed the Holy Family had hid- 
den themselves there at the time of their flight into 
Egypt. 

“This is a story which has been handed down for 
centuries,” he said, “but no one knows that it is 
true.” 

Before leaving Bethlehem the travelers went to 
a hill on the edge of the town. There, from its top 
in the late afternoon light, Ameen pointed to a broad 
plain stretching eastward. 

“Can you see the water beyond?” he asked. 
Without waiting for an answer he went on, “it is 
the Dead Sea.” 


[ 69 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 


‘‘And still beyond,” he said, “lie the Mountains 
of Moab.” 

“Here at my very feet,” said Mrs. Andrews ad- 
miringly, “is a picture I wish I might paint.” She 
pointed to a beautiful olive garden at the foot of 
the hill. 

“That,” said Arthur quickly, as he came beside 
her, “is where my father told me the shepherds were 
keeping watch by night when they heard the voices 
of the angels.” 

“Bearing tidings of great joy for all people,” said 
the little lady softly. As she spoke, the beauty of 
the message shone forth from her lovely face. 


[ 70 ] 


CHAPTER IX 


THE DEAD SEA 

A LL aboard!’’ called Joe. 

“All ahorse! I guess you mean,” said Ar- 
thur with a laugh, as Mr. and Mrs. Andrews and 
Lucy came down the hotel steps, ready for the 
outing. 

“It’s pretty early to start, especially as you were 
tired last night after the day in Bethlehem,” said 
Mr. Andrews, glancing at his wife. 

“But we are fresh as the lilies of the field this 
morning,” she answered cheerily. 

“Besides, the air is cooler to-day, and we all 
enjoy horseback riding,” added Lucy. Then she 
turned to Arthur and said earnestly, “I’m as glad as 
can be that your father has decided to let you join 
us in all our trips.” 

Otf rode the travelers briskly, enjoying the clear 
morning air and the fresh green of the country 
through which they were passing. They soon came 
in sight of a little village nestling in a hollow near 
the foot of the Mount of Olives. It looked very 
pretty from a distance, with its many gardens, and 
[ 71 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 


orchards of olive, fig, almond and pomegranate 
trees. 

‘ ‘ But when you get there, ’ ’ Arthur told the twins, 
“you will find the houses are tumble-down mud 
hovels, and many of the people are shiftless, and 
ready to beg from the travelers who visit the place. ’ ’ 

“What a pity!” said Lucy. “Mother once told 
me that Bethany was the nearest place to a home 
Jesus had after he became a man. She said she 
liked to think of him resting there in the home of 
Lazarus, with Martha getting dinner and Mary at 
his feet listening to his wise words. And so — and 
so — I hardly care to visit the place if I am to see 
what you describe, Arthur.” 

“We found Bethlehem wasn’t as pretty as it 
looked from a distance,” said Joe stoutly, “yet we 
were glad we went there. ’ ’ 

“Y-e-es. Well, I guess I will be glad afterwards 
for seeing Bethany.” Lucy spoke doubtfully. “I 
suppose,” she went on, “I must keep in mind what 
Uncle Ben has told us over and over : ‘It is the coun- 
try itself that we have come to see, and not what 
people have made of it since the days of the dear 
Christ.’ ” 

The party stopped only a short time in Bethany, 
as it was out of the course planned for the day, and 
they wished to reach Jericho by noon. They stayed 
long enough, however, to visit a small house which 
Ameen said had once been the home of Lazarus. 
[ 72 ] 



Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N, Y, 

''THEY SOON CAME IN SIGHT OF BETHANY NESTLING IN A HOLLOW 
NEAR THE FOOT OF THE MOUNT OF OLIVES” 




THE DEAD SEA 


At tliis Mr. Andrews shook his head, as he knew it 
could not have been over a hundred years old. They 
also visited one of the cave-tombs near Bethany. It 
had an opening small enough to be closed by a stone. 

“The body of Lazarus which the Master after- 
wards brought to life was no doubt in a tomb like 
this one,” said Mr. Andrews, looking at it thought- 
fully. 

The sun was high up in the sky when the travelers, 
who had been riding slowly through a lonely rocky 
country, came to a break in the hills. Below them 
lay a small village. 

“It is Jericho,” said Ameen. “That is,” he 
added, “the little settlement you now look upon, 
stands where once was one of the leading cities of 
Palestine, with groves of palm and balsam around 
it.” 

“A beautiful city it was,” said Mr. Andrews, who 
had read much about the Jericho of old times. 
“Herod had one of his palaces there, and there were 
many other fine buildings. But now, alas ! there is 
nothing to see of that ancient splendor.” 

“The inn there is not bad. You will find good 
food and beds,” said Ameen. “Then, after a good 
night’s rest, you will enjoy the ride to the Dead 
Sea.” 

Soon afterwards the travelers were eating a 
hearty dinner at the little inn, and all were so tired 
[731 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 


from the rough ride that they were glad to seek 
sleep at an early hour. 

The sun had scarcely shown itself next morning 
when the travelers were once more on their way. A 
ride of two hours brought them in sight of what 
every one was now longing to see. 

“It must — it must — ^be the Dead Sea!” cried Joe 
excitedly. 

“It is — it is — the Dead Sea!” said Arthur, mock- 
ing him. 

“How still it is! The water is as smooth as 
glass!” said Lucy, urging her horse forward. She 
was eager to reach the Sea as quickly as possible. 

It was some time yet, however, before the party 
stood on the shore of the waters nearer the center 
of the earth than any other in the world. 

“Do you know what cities lie buried under the 
Dead Sea?” Mr. Andrews asked the twins. 

“Sodom and Gomorrah,” Joe answered while his 
sister was hesitating. “And I don’t feel had about 
it because the people were so wicked.” 

“Lot was saved, though,” said Lucy, glad to show 
she knew that much. 

“And so the Dead Sea is sometimes called ‘Lot’s 
Lake,’ ” said Arthur. 

“Early as it is, I’m hungry,” declared Joe a 
minute afterwards. “But I want to go in swim- 
ming, and I suppose ” the boy looked at his aunt 

with dancing eyes. 


[ 74 ] 


THE DEAD SEA 


‘‘That Aunt Nell won’t let you go directly after 
eating,” Mrs. Andrews said with a merry laugh. 
“Quite right, Joe. If you and Arthur wish a swim 
in the Dead Sea, it must be now or never.” 

‘ ‘ N ow, then ! Come on, Arthur ! ” At these words 
the two boys began a race to a clump of brush, and 
soon appeared in bathing suits which they had 
brought with them. 

“I am glad it is not hot to-day,” said Mrs. An- 
drews, who had settled herself after dismounting 
in the most comfortable spot she could find. 

“There isn’t the smallest thing growing anywhere 
around,” said Lucy, looking up and down the shore. 

‘ ‘ The earth looks burned up. Is it because the water 
on which it borders is so salt — saltier even than 
the ocean?” 

“Yes, and because of the sulphur and calcium in 
the earth itself,” said Mr. Andrews, coming up be- 
hind her. 

“Now, folks! Watch us!” called Joe, preparing 
for a plunge. 

“Remember what I’ve told you,” called his un- 
cle. “Lie on your back when you swim, or else 
tread the water upright, or you may lose your bal- 
ance and your legs go up and your head down.” 

“Don’t let the water get into your mouth or 
eyes,” called Mrs. Andrews fearfully, shortly after- 
wards. 

“Don’t worry, wife. I’ve a good notion to go 

[ 75 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 

in myself.’^ Mr. Andrews’ eyes were full of boyish 
longing. 

But just then there was a kicking and splashing 
in the waters close by, and the next minute the two 
boys, spluttering, coughing and choking by turns, 
landed at the feet of the watchers. 

“Ouch!” said Arthur when he could get his 
breath. “My eyes burn like fire.” 

“And my mouth is full of that horrid water,” 
followed Joe. “I lost my balance and in swept a 
quart of it at least. It’s the saltiest and bitterest 
stuff I ever dreamed of.” 

“I guess you have both had enough of bathing 
in the Dead Sea,” said Mrs. Andrews. 

“I’m glad I didn’t venture in,” said Lucy, who 
had at first longed to join the boys. 

While Joe and Arthur had been bathing, Ameen 
had been spreading out the lunch some distance 
back from the shore in the most comfortable spot 
he could find. 

“He is calling to us to come and I, for one, don’t 
wish to keep him waiting,” said Mr. Andrews mer- 
rily. “Joe and Arthur, hurry up and get dressed, 
and then join us.” 

While the party ate the delicious dried figs and 
raisins which formed a part of the lunch, Arthur 
described the fruit that would soon be ripe in abun- 
dance. “Peaches and plums and fresh figs 
a-plenty,” he said, “besides apricots, mulberries, 
[ 76 ] 


THE DEAD SEA 


red and white ones, and then the grapes — big 
bunches of them fairly loading the vines!” 

^‘And we won’t be in Palestine when they ripen,” 
said Joe regretfully. 

After finishing the lunch, the party rested for an 
hour before starting homeward, while Ameen told 
all he knew about the Dead Sea. 

“At the southern end,” he said, “there is a moun- 
tain containing a cavern, and in that cavern are big 
deposits of salt. The sea is very salt because of 
these deposits and because of minerals brought down 
by the Jordan River.” 

“And also because there is no outlet for the 
waters,” added Mr. Andrews. 

“How far from here is the mouth of the Jordan?” 
asked Mrs. Andrews. 

“Not a great distance to the north of us. But it 
is probably a considerable distance up the river 
where Jesus was baptized by John. Christ went 
there from Galilee, you will remember, and the 
only road over which He could have journeyed is 
quite a distance from the mouth of the J ordan. 

“Across from Him lay the Land of Moab, a wild 
and dangerous country now as well as in the days 
of Jesus.” 

“I haven’t seen even a minnow in the Dead Sea,” 
Joe said suddenly, looking out over the waters in 
front of him. 


[ 77 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 


‘‘No fisli of any kind can live tkere/^ explained 
Ameen, as he went off to saddle the horses. 

“Hurrah!” shouted Joe, as the party started 
homeward. “IVe enjoyed every minute since I 
landed in Palestine ” 

“Except when you swallowed the water from the 
Dead Sea, ’ * Lucy made haste to remind her brother. 

“Don’t mention a little thing like that, Lucy. Be- 
sides, you shouldn’t have interrupted me. I was 
going on to say that the best is yet to come.” 

“It’s jolly that I can go with you on the long 
camping trip ahead,” said Arthur. “I have longed 
for such an experience ever since I came to the 
Holy Land.” 

“Day after to-morrow morning we are to start 
at seven o’clock!” cried Lucy. “We may get hack 
to Jerusalem so late this evening and he so tired, 
we shall need a good rest in between.” 

“Uncle Ben told me everything is arranged for 
already — ^horses, tents, all sorts of good things to 
eat — everything!^’ Joe’s voice almost shouted his 
delight as he prodded his horse and went canter- 
ing down the road ahead of the rest of the party. 


[ 78 ] 


CHAPTER X 


QUEER SIGHTS 


ORTHWARD into a land of adventures,” 



said Joe excitedly, as the travelers left 
Jerusalem behind them, each one riding a stout 
horse, while Ameen led two heavily-laden pack- 
horses beside his own. 

“We shall soon he standing beside the Sea of 
Galilee. Why, it seems too good to be true I” said 
Lucy. Her face fairly oozed happiness, as Arthur 
told her mischievously. 

“Don’t hurry ahead in your mind, Lucy,” chided 
Joe. “Think of to-night, when we’ll be sleeping in 
our tents inside of Shechem, the first capital of 
Israel. What sport ! ’ ’ 

“Now-a-days we call it Nablous — not Shechem,” 
Arthur reminded him. 

“Oh, say!” burst out Joe. “What do you think 
of that?” He motioned towards a field in which a 
man was plowing. “A camel and a donkey hitched 
to the same plow!” 

“Well, I never!” Lucy reined in her horse. “The 


[ 79 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 


two animals seem to get along together all right/ ^ 
she said as she watched them. 

“They have to agree,” said Arthur. “They fear 
the goad of their master. ’ ’ 

“All the country people are busy now,” contin- 
ued Arthur, as they rode on. ‘ ‘ The wheat has been 
planted and most of the plowing done. The man 
we watched is late at it.” 

“Planting before plowing?” asked Joe in sur- 
prise. 

“Yes, that^s the way in Syria.” Arthur smiled. 
Then he went on : “You must have seen many fields 
of tall grain already. Before many weeks the har- 
vesting will begin. Then a whole village will be 
busy from morning till night. The big folks reap 
the grain, and the children load the sheaves on the 
backs of the horses and donkeys, and carry it off to 
be threshed.” 

“But if the women have babies?” asked Lucy. 

“The babies are easily taken care of. Many a 
time IVe seen a baby’s head sticking out of a bag 
hanging from some tree while the mother was busy 
cutting the grain.” 

“What do the people do after the grain is har- 
vested?” asked Joe. 

“By that time they are busy gathering and dry- 
ing figs, and watching their grape vines.” 

‘^Watching their grape vines?” said Lucy won- 
deringly. 


[ 80 ] 



Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N, Y. 

PLANTING BEFORE PLOWING IS THE WAY IN SYRIA 



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QUEER SIGHTS 

“Yes. You must have noticed watch towers here 
and there in places where there are vineyards 
and ” 

“ I Ve meant to ask Ameen or you what they were 
built for,” broke in Joe. 

“Then I’ll explain. As the harvest is very pre- 
cious because grapes supply people with fresh fruit, 
raisins and wine, men stand on guard day and night 
in those towers as soon as the grapes begin to ripen. 
There is danger of thieves stealing into the vine- 
yards and carrying the whole crop off. Then, too, 
wolves and foxes and bears enjoy grapes and they 
must be kept away. Even a watchman isn’t enough 
protection. The vineyards are surrounded by walls ; 
and when harvest time is at hand, the owners col- 
lect thorn-bushes and spread them on top of the 
walls, with stones to keep them in place. A sorry 
time then for the wild animal that tries to get into 
the vineyard!” 

“A howling time, maybe.” Joe, as well as Ar- 
thur and his sister, laughed at his little joke. 

“I say!” said Arthur at a sudden thought. “I 
wish you twins could see olive trees loaded with 
the ripening fruit. The branches often bend under 
the weight. Some of the olives are pickled or pre- 
served, but most of them are sent to the press to 
furnish people with olive oil.” 

‘ ‘ 0 dear ! I ’d like to stay here all summer and see 
ever>dhing you have seen!” cried Joe mournfully. 

[811 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 


‘‘That’s the tenth time, at least, youVe said that, 
Joe Grayson. 7’m thinking how many interesting 
things we have seen,” said Lucy. “For instance, 
the olive orchards at their loveliest! The little, 
cream-white blossoms — thousands and thousands of 
them — reaching their heads out from among the 
glossy dark-green leaves are just beautiful. Wo 
passed an olive orchard in flower a little while ago.” 

“I must tell you a good joke on myself,” said 
Arthur. “Last summer I didn’t wait for the olives 
to be picked and pickled, but ate some right off the 
tree, just as I used to eat hard little green apples 
at home, and my I how bitter they were ! My mouth 
was all puckered up for hours afterwards. And an- 
other time I had eaten a lot of green almonds before 
dinner. I was going to a party that afternoon. But 
just as I began to dress, wow! such a pain in my 
‘tummy’ ! And then another and another till I was 
twisted up in a knot that didn’t get untied till long 
after the doctor had come, and the party was over. 
No more green almonds for me!” 

With a merry laugh the children speeded up their 
horses to join their elders. 


[ 82 ] 


CHAPTER XI 


THE OLD CAPITAL OF ISRAEL 



HIS is the best way ever to see the country I” 


declared Mr. Andrews, sighing like a happy 


boy. 


“It’s just jolly!” cried Joe. “I wish I could al- 
ways sleep in a tent and have my meals out-doors. 
Aunt Nell, may I have another of these hot bacon 
sandwiches?” 

The travelers were sitting under a big mulberry 
tree eating their breakfast. Ameen, at a wood fire 
near by, was frying bacon and tending the coffee 
pot. A lark, high in the sky overhead, was singing 
his morning song. 

“This town of Nablous is most beautifully situ- 
ated,” said Mrs. Andrews, as she handed Joe the 
sandwich. “Such lovely groves and orchards all 
about the place. Look at that tall walnut tree. Hov^ 
shapely it is !” 

“And such lovely flowers and birds!” Lucy cried. 
“I’m going down to the brook to get a bouquet of 
tulips and anemones this minute.” 

The little girl jumped up and went dancing away. 


[ 83 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 

softly humming a Syrian lullaby. She had heard a 
woman singing it to her baby the evening before 
when she had passed a cottage down the road. 

“The city of Samaria is only a few miles from 
here,” said Mr. Andrews, studying a pocket map. 
“And many of the streams in this part of the coun- 
try flow into the River Jordan.” 

“Here comes Lucy already,” said her aunt. 
“Her hands are full of flowers.” 

“Folks, folks!” cried the little girl as she came 
hurrying up. “Come with me, quick. You know 
the cottage down the road — ^well,” she stopped to 
get her breath. ‘ ‘ There is a woman out in front of 
it kneeling on the ground and grinding wheat — I 
guess it is — ^between two big flat stones. I wanted 
to go close and watch the woman, but felt too bash- 
ful. Ho come with me.” 

“Of course we will,” said her uncle, jumping up. 
“Follow me,” he cried, as with long bounds he ran 
down the road, the children in close pursuit, and 
Mrs. Andrews tripping merrily behind them. 

As the visitors neared the cottage, the woman 
looked up and smiled pleasantly, then went on with 
her work. She was dropping wheat through a hole 
in the top of one of the two stones Lucy had noticed. 
“Do you see how that stone is kept in place above 
the larger one?” Arthur asked his friends. 
“There’s an iron pin sticking down through the hole 
and fi:xed tight in the middle of the lower stone.” 
[ 84 ] 


THE OLD CAPITAL OF ISRAEL 


“How fast the woman turns the wooden handle 
fastened to the side of the stone ! ’ ’ whispered Lucy. 
“Oh, I seel That makes the stone go round and 
grind the wheat.” 

“The wheat is coming out around the edges of the 
mill and falling on the cloth spread underneath,” 
said Joe. 

“And it’s fine flour now,” added Lucy. 

“The humming of the mill is a pleasant sound. 
It is like that of an immense drove of bees.” As 
Mrs. Andrews spoke she smiled at the worker, who 
smiled in return and said “Good morning” in 
Arabic. 

“It’s hard for our women — wheat grinding,” 
Ameen told the travelers when they returned to the 
camp. “If their families are big they must spend 
several hours each day in the work. And after that 
comes the bread-making and baking, besides wash- 
ing the clothes at some nearby brook, and many 
other tasks.” 

“I stayed all night in a little village last sum- 
mer,” said Arthur. “And in the morning I was 
waked up by such a humming! Nearly every 
woman in the place, I soon found, was busy grinding 
her wheat for the day’s bread.” 

“Suppose we climb the hill behind us and get a 
view of the country around Nablous,” proposed Mr. 
Andrews. “After that we will leave these outskirts 
and explore the town. Then we can come back to 
[ 85 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 

camp for another night and leave early next morn- 
ing for Nazareth.” 

Every one was pleased with the plan, and the 
party were soon climbing the hill. 

“I’m so glad we saw Jacob’s Well on onr way 
here yesterday,” Lucy told her brother. 

‘ ‘ Though we found it isn ’t really a well, but a deep 
cistern in the solid rock,” was the quick answer. 
“But I say, Lucy,” Joe went on, “it is Jacob’s Well, 
just the same, and Jesus went there and talked be- 
side it with the woman of Samaria.” 

“Hurry up and see what I’m seeing,” called Mr. 
Andrews, who had been the first to reach the top of 
the hill. ‘ ‘ Right across from us is Mount Gerizim ! ’ ’ 

‘ ‘ On that summit, ’ ’ Mr. Andrews told the children 
when they reached him, ‘ ‘ Abraham prepared to sac- 
rifice the life of his loved son, as a mark of his faith 
in his Father in Heaven. But God would not per- 
mit it.” 

‘ ‘ The Samaritans often go to the summit of Mount 
Gerizim to celebrate the Feast of the Passover in a 
temple there,” said Ameen. 

Then, as the travelers looked downward upon the 
beautiful country below them, Ameen bade them no- 
tice not only the rich gardens, but the many olive 
groves. 

“Nablous, which is nearly as large as Jerusalem,” 
he said, “contains many factories where soap is 
made out of olive oil. It sends large quantities of 
[ 86 ] 


THE OLD CAPITAL OF ISRAEL 


the soap to other lands, and also the oil itself. You 
have probably noticed that the people all over Pales- 
tine use olive oil freely. They cook with it and even 
eat it in place of butter. The country folks also 
often burn it in their lamps.” 

think I will buy one of those odd little lamps 
when we visit the bazaars in the town,” said Mrs. 
Andrews thoughtfully. 

‘ ‘ Listen ! ’ ’ cried Lucy. She had caught the sound 
of birds singing in a tree below. 

“Sh!” said Mr. Andrews in a low tone. “They 
must be nightingales. Those beautiful song birds 
belong rightfully in this lovely place.” 


[ 87 ] 






CHAPTER XII 


THE STOBM 

TN two hours more we shall reach Nazareth, but 
we must hurry, said Ameen, looking doubtfully 
at the sky. 

“It is late in the season for a hard rain,’^ he told 
Mr. Andrews, riding up beside him. “But some- 
times there is a wild storm even as late as this.’^ 

“If it comes, can’t we pitch our tents and be shel- 
tered safely?” asked Mrs. Andrews. 

“It would be much better for you, lady, to be in 
a house,” Ameen answered. Mrs. Andrews looked 
so delicate, the dragoman had been on the watch to 
make everything easy for her since the party had 
set out. 

In the meantime Arthur and the twins were talk- 
ing together about the sights of Nahlous which they 
had left early that morning. 

“Uncle Ben told me that Herod the Great tried 
to make the place the most beautiful city of Pales- 
tine,” said Lucy. 

“Last evening I wished we could be invited up 
on top of one of those flat-roofed houses to watch 
[ 89 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 


the sunset/^ said Joe regretfully. “I saw a good 
many boys and girls up there with their parents, 
and they looked jolly and happy.’’ 

“I’m glad we visited the big mosque that was 
once a Christian church,” said Arthur. 

“But I cared most to see the mosque that was 
also once a church, because it stands on the very spot 
where Joseph’s brothers brought his coat to Jacob, 
so Ameen told me,” said Lucy eagerly. 

As she finished the sentence big drops of water 
fell on her nose. She looked up in surprise. At 
the same moment a storm of wind came sweeping 
about her from what seemed all directions at once. 

“Lucy, you look like a balloon on horseback,” Joe 
managed to call out before his voice was choked in 
a downpour of rain that came down in “bucketfuls” 
as he afterwards wrote to Carlos. 

Then, from out of the blackness overhead, came 
long tearing sheets of lightning, which blinded the 
eyes of the travelers. At the same time loud peals 
of thunder rent the air. The horses plunged wildly 
ahead. The next moment Mrs. Andrews had landed 
in a ditch where she lay helpless in a muddy bed, 
soaked through by the torrent of rain falling about 
her. 

“The home of a peasant is close by!” shouted 
Ameen, who had gone on ahead of the others. In 
fact, he had been anxiously on the lookout for shel- 
ter ever since he had discovered signs of the ap- 
[ 90 ] 


THE STORM 

preaching storm. Now, discovering the plight of 
Mrs. Andrews, he came hurrying back. 

With Ameen’s help Mr. Andrews quickly rescued 
his wife from the ditch. “I’m not hurt a bit,” she 
managed to reply to his anxious questioning. After- 
wards, when safe in the house of the peasant, she 
said with a merry laugh, “That ditch was as soft 
to fall into as a feather bed.” 

At present, however, there was only one thought 
for all: to reach shelter as quickly as possible. 

If the truth must be told, Lucy’s teeth were still 
chattering with fright when she found herself with 
the rest of the party inside the little home of a 
Syrian farmer. 

The man and his wife and little daughter had been 
watching them from a tiny window, and as they 
drew near he flung the door open to receive them. 

“Welcome, welcome!” he cried hospitably in his 
native tongue. 

“Welcome, welcome!” echoed his wife, as the 
travelers dismounted and hurried inside. 

“Too bad!” the Syrian said, turning to Ameen, 
“but there is not room within for your animals.” 

As the dragoman tethered them close to the most 
sheltered wall of the house, the visitors inside were 
kept busy for a while wringing out what water they 
could from coats and skirts. 

“I’m soaked through and through,” Lucy told 
her aunt. 


[ 91 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 

“But mud is worse than water, the little lady 
said gayly, scraping off big cakes from her shoul- 
ders. 

In the meanwhile the peasant’s wife had started 
a fire in the rude fireplace at the side of the one room 
in which the family ate, slept and sat. 

Such an odd home it was, as the twins soon dis- 
covered. Not a chair, table, or bed to be seen! There 
were a few rush mats to be sure, and over at one 
side were some clay bins containing wheat and vege- 
tables, dried fruit, and also some dishes for cooking. 

“Where can the beds beT’ Lucy wondered till 
she noticed a big recess in the wall in which she saw 
some mattresses and coverlets were piled. “Aha!” 
she thought. “I guess that when night comes the 
woman pulls those out on the floor.” 

The fire was blazing in the fireplace by this time, 
and the peasant’s little black-eyed daughter mo^ 
tioned to Lucy and her aunt to come close to it to 
dry themselves. They were glad to do so, though 
the room was fast filling with smoke, as there was 
no chimney in the house. 

By this time every one was coughing and the mas- 
ter of the little house hastened to open the door to 
let out the smoke, though gusts of wind drove the 
rain inside in big sheets and the thunder still rolled 
incessantly, sounding as if giants were shooting off 
their cannon, as Joe said. 

Now, however, Lucy’s fear had vanished, and she 

[ 92 ] 


THE STORM 


was as interested as Joe and Arthur in what her 
eyes, blinded by the rain, had not noticed clearly at 
first : the peasant and his family shared their home 
with their donkey, their cow and two goats! The 
room where the family were entertaining their 
guests was reached by two or three steps leading up 
from a mud floor below. And in that narrow muddy 
space the animals had their only stable. 

“Sociable, anyway!” Joe whispered to Arthur 
mischievously. ‘ ‘ I could reach down from where I ’m 
squatting on this mat and pull the donkey’s tail.” 

In the meantime the peasant’s wife had begun to 
bustle about to spread a lunch before her guests, 
because the native Syrians are very hospitable. She 
had fresh loaves of bread to offer them, besides de- 
licious honey and dried figs, goats’ milk, and buns 
rich in pounded nuts. 

“A meal fit for a king!” said Mr. Andrews, when 
he had finished eating. 

“And it tasted just as good as if we had had 
plates and napkins,” seconded Joe, who had eaten 
four loaves of bread spread with honey. 

“How does the woman make such good bread!” 
Mrs. Andrews asked Ameen. “I seen no oven in 
which to bake it.” 

“She probably does most of her baking out- 
doors,” was the answer, “and in a very simple oven 
made by putting a large earthen jar on a flat slab 
of stone. A fire of twigs is lighted inside the jar 
[ 93 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 

which has a hole in the top. When it is hot, the 
woman spreads flat cakes of dough around the sides. 
They are so thin that they hake quickly. In the 
towns, however,” Ameen continued, “there are gen- 
erally public ovens to which the women send their 
bread to he baked.” 

“The storm is over!” called Joe who had gone 
down to the door to look out. ‘ ‘ The rain has stopped 
entirely now, and there’s a rainbow. It’s a beauty!” 

Soon afterwards the travelers were once more on 
their way, Mr. Andrews regretting that he could 
not give his kind host a few coins in return for his 
hospitality. “But he would feel insulted at the 
offer of pay,” Ameen had told him. 

As the twins gave a parting look back towards the 
hut where they had been sheltered, they waved their 
hands to the peasant’s little daughter who was 
watching them from the roof. 

‘ ‘ On hot summer nights the family probably sleep 
up there,” Ameen explained. “It is cooler and 
pleasanter than inside.” 

“And the air must be sweeter,” said Lucy with a 
sniff of her dainty nose. “Donkeys and goats are 
all right in their place, but I wouldn’t care to sleep 
with them.” 

As it was nearing nightfall and the way was rough 
and lonely, the party rode as rapidly as possible, 
and the children had no wish to lag behind. They 
had not forgotten the ride back to Jerusalem from 
[ 94 ] 


THE STORM 


the Dead Sea when Ameen and their unde seemed 
so anxious during the last hour of the journey. 

“Travelers are not safe here in Palestine after 
dark when they are far from a settlement,*’ Mr. An- 
drews had told the tvirins afterwards, “because rob- 
bers may be on the watch to surprise them in any 
wild spot.” 

“Please notice that high hill beyond us stretch- 
ing up from the roadside,” Ameen called out to the 
party, as he suddenly drew in his horse. 

“What is it?” asked one after another, sure that 
the hill must he important or the dragoman would 
not have called their attention to it. 

“The name of that hill is Kurn-el-Hatteen, ” 
Ameen answered. “It is the Mount of Beatitudes.” 

“Aunt Nell,” said Lucy softly, riding up beside 
Mrs. Andrews, “can’t you imagine Jesus standing 
up there teaching the people gathered around 
Him ? ’ ’ 

“Yes, little niece, and saying ‘Blessed are the 
pure in heart, for they shall see God.’ ” 

“ ‘And blessed are the peace-makers, for they 
shall be called the children of God,’ ” added Lucy. 
Then silently she rode on in the soft light of the late 
afternoon, while Ameen pointed to a plain stretch- 
ing out below the Mount. It was the Plain of Es- 
draelon, often spoken of as the battlefield of Pales- 
tine.” 

“I well remember,” said Mr. Andrews, “reading 

[ 95 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 


of the terrible fight there between the Crusaders and 
the Saracens nnder the mighty Saladin. It was on a 
scorching day of mid-summer. Thousands of the 
brave Crusaders were killed in that battle. Many 
others died from thirst and the burning heat. But 
there were some among those driven up on the 
Mount, who escaped the fury of their enemies.” 

The whole sky was lighted with the beauty of the 
sunset when the tired horses bore the travelers up a 
narrow road to the rocky summit of a hill. Below 
them, in a hollow among other hills, nestled a small 
to^vn, with gardens separated from each other by 
cactus hedges. 

“It is Nazareth, which you have come far to see,” 
said Ameen quietly. 

“How beautiful it looks with its houses of white 
stone, its gardens and orchards,” said Mrs. An- 
drews. 

“I can see the steeple of a church, and the dome 
of a mosque — and — ^yes, the big buildings near to- 
gether must be those of a convent,” said Joe, look- 
ing closely. 

“Let us hasten, as the light will soon fail,” said 
Ameen, “and it will be easier to pitch camp before 
dark. ’ ’ 

“I would like to have stayed on that hill all night, 
robbers or no robbers,” Joe declared stoutly, as the 
travelers ate supper an hour afterwards around 
their camp fire. 


[ 96 ] 



Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y, 


BELOW THEM LAY NAZARETH, WITH GARDENS SEPARATED BY CACTUS 

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THE STORM 


“I enjoy it right here,” said Lucy contentedly, 
looking about the little grove in which Ameen had 
already set up the tents. “And I’m so tired I’ll be 
asleep in ten minutes,” she added, getting up and 
going to the tent which she shared with her aunt. 


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CHAPTER XIII 


THE TOWN IN WHICH JESUS GKEW TO MANHOOD 


E’VE had the grandest time!” cried Joe, 



^ ^ suddenly appearing out of nowhere, as Lucy 
told him. 

‘‘Uncle Ben is as fast a climber as Arthur and I,” 
he went on. “In the steep places, you see, we had to 
get otf our horses and walk beside them.” 

“Oh, but it was a lark!” said Arthur who had 
stolen up behind Joe. “I wish you and Lucy could 
have gone with us, Mrs. Andrews. You may never 
again have a chance to climb Mount Tabor.” 

“We have been so busy the past two days going 
about Nazareth, that I thought we had better have 
a little rest. But I’m glad you boys enjoyed it.” 
Mrs. Andrews smiled contentedly. 

“From the top we could look down on the Plain 
of Esdraelon,” Joe said excitedly. “And we got 
a good view of Mount Carmel, and away off in the 
distance was Mount Hermon — that’s where the Jor- 
dan has its source, you know, Lucy.” 

“And we caught sight of the Lake of Galilee,” 
broke in Arthur. 


r99i 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 


“Oh-h!’’ said Lucy enviously. 

‘ ‘ On the way up we saw a cave ; a man with a long 
beard, dressed in a loose coarse robe, stood in the 
opening,” Joe went on. 

“ Ameen told us he was possibly a hermit who lived 
in the cave and spent most of his time praying,” 
Arthur added quickly. “At any rate, Ameen said 
there used to be hermits living in caves on Mount 
Tabor years ago.” 

“While we sat eating our lunch on the summit,” 
Joe went on, “some pilgrims passed us.” 

‘ ‘ Mount Tabor has been held as a sacred place for 
ages,” said Mrs. Andrews thoughtfully. “There 
were once many who believed it was the Mount of 
Transfiguration. But people to-day know better.” 

“What have you been doing while we were 
away?” Joe asked Lucy when he had finished re- 
lating his adventures. 

“Writing to Daddie and Mummie, Joe. I’ve been 
having a wonderful time here in Palestine. Yet, 
once in a while I get just a little choky from missing 
them. ’ ’ 

“Twin dear, I miss them too, though Uncle Ben 
and Aunt Nell are the dearest folks!” Joe’s voice 
was unusually tender ; and thirteen years old though 
he was, his eyes were a little blurry. ‘ ‘ May I read 
the letter?” he asked. 

“Of course, and perhaps you will add a post- 

[ 100 ] 


WHERE JESUS GREW TO MANHOOD 


script. ’’ Tossing the letter into her brother’s hands, 
Lucy ran off to talk with Arthur. 

First of all, the little girl had written of how much 
she missed her dear parents. If only they were 
with her, she would be perfectly happy, though she 
wished Theresa were with her also to pick bouquets 
of the lovely wild flowers, to ride horseback beside 
her, and to walk along the very paths where their 
Elder Brother had walked long, long ago. 

Then Lucy went on to describe the sights of Naza- 
reth. 

“It is a pretty town,” she wrote. “Most of the 
houses are of stone and flat-roofed. The people are 
so handsome I like to look at them, and few of them 
are poor. I got acquainted with a Syrian girl a little 
younger than I, and we have taken several walks to- 
gether. She knows a few English words, and I know 
a few Arabic words, so we have talked together 
mostly by signs and had lots of fun over it. 

“We have met a good many tourists here in Naza- 
reth and no wonder. Think of it, Daddie and Mum- 
mie! This is where Jesus must have spent most of 
His life! When I look up on the hillsides and see 
shepherds tending their goats and sheep, I picture 
the boy Jesus there in the long ago, tenderly caring 
for His flock. 

“Then, when I walk along the streets, I seem to 
see Him again going on some errand for His mother 
— perhaps with a water jar on His shoulder, on the 
[ 101 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 


way to Mary’s Well. It is the very well, people say, 
where the mother of Jesus got the water for her 
household. 

‘ ‘ Each evening of our stay here, I have gone down 
there to watch the women and children of the town 
fill their jars. They often stop to chat together and 
they are so pretty and good-natured, I don’t like to 
hurry away. It is pleasant to think that Jesus, as 
He grew up, must have sat beside that well some- 
times and talked kindly and helpfully to the people 
there. 

“Yesterday morning I passed by a carpenter’s 
shop. A man was working there, with his young son 
beside him. In just such a shop and in this very 
town, the boy Jesus must have worked with His 
father. Indeed, Ameen pointed out to us the spot 
where people say Joseph’s shop actually stood. Of 
course, none to-day really know this, any more than 
they know that a certain cave we visited was once 
Mary’s kitchen. 

“There are some fine buildings in Nazareth. One 
of these is a Latin convent said to be the handsomest 
in Palestine, with an altar dedicated to the Angel 
Gabriel, and containing many pictures and tapes- 
tries showing scenes in Christ’s life. 

“I must tell you what happened to Arthur and 
Joe yesterday. They were walking past a Moham- 
medan school and they stopped to listen to the shout- 
[ 102 ] 


WHERE JESUS GREW TO MANHOOD 


ing of the boys inside as they recited their lessons 
together. 

“All at once the noise stopped. The school must 
have been dismissed just then, because the boys 
came pouring out into the street. Seeing Joe and 
Arthur and that they must be strangers and Chris- 
tians, they began to throw stones at them. 

“Well, you know how quick tempered Joe is. He 
picked up a stone to throw back, but Arthur was 
wise enough to tell him that would make things 
worse, and they’d only get into a fight with the little 
Mohammedans. So Joe dropped his stone, and he 
and Arthur ran ofiF. When Joe got back to camp 
he was still angry and said he was ashamed of him- 
self for running away. 

“ ‘You did right, however,’ Uncle Ben told him. 
‘It is best to have no quarrels with the people who 
rule over this country at present. But some day,’ 
he went on, ‘let us hope that the power here of the 
Turks will be no more. ’ 

“How you dear folks would have liked to go with 
us on the ride we took yesterday afternoon. We 
went to the little village of Cana, just a short ways 
from Nazareth. It is now only a group of mud huts. 
No doubt it was much prettier at the time when 
Jesus attended the marriage feast there and turned 
the water into wine. I like to think so, anyway. 

“Dear me! Wfiat a long letter I have written. 
It is already supper time. Then what fun we shall 
[ 103 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 


have eating outdoors! Ameen is a fine cook and 
Uncle Ben says he is such a treasure in every way 
we shall hate to part with him. Altogether camp, 
life is glorious, the ‘best ever,’ as Joe would say. 

“With heaps and heaps of love and kisses, 

“Lucy.” 


[1041 


CHAPTER XIV 


BESIDE THE SEA 

A RE you happy?” 

Lucy’s uncle and aunt had stolen up behind 
her as she sat close to the edge of the Sea of Galilee, 
idly watching some bare-legged children paddling 
in the water. 

“Very, very happy! What a beautiful place this 
is! How blue the water is and how it sparkles in 
the sunlight! How soft and loving the sky looks! 
And the hills around the shores, — they seem to say, 
‘We shut out all trouble. Here is peace.’ ” 

“I have long wished to look upon this Sea of Gali- 
lee.” Mr. Andrew’s kind face shone with happiness. 
“On this very shore Jesus called together His first 
disciples. On these waters before us He walked as 
if on land. In the sudden storm which filled His 
disciples’ hearts with fear. He calmed the angry 
waves, and the boat was brought safely to land.” 

“Those very fishermen,” said Mrs. Andrews, 
pointing to two men a little ways off from shore, 
“are no doubt casting their nets in the same way 
their ancestors did when Christ lived among them.” 
[ 105 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 


“We’ve been watching the fishermen,” cried Joe, 
running up with Arthur close behind. “They sat 
in their boat, still as anything, till a shoal of fish 
drew near. Then out they flung their nets, the lead- 
en weights making them sink; after that one of the 
men pulled a rope which brought the weights to- 
gether, so the net closed like a prison about the fish. 
And then ! The men began to pull, and up came the 
net just loaded. My, what sport ! ’ ’ 

After watching the fishermen a while longer, the 
travelers walked back to camp. 

“I’m glad Ameen pitched the tents outside the 
town,” said Mrs. Andrews. “Tiberias is such a 
dirty place. It seems a shame that it should stand 
on the shore of such a beautiful lake.” 

“In the time of Jesus it was a much busier town 
than now,” said Mr. Andrews. “Then, so I have 
read, the Sea of Galilee, or Sea of Tiberias as it is 
sometimes called, was thickly dotted with ships.” 

“Quite different from now-a-days,” said Joe. 
“This morning Arthur and I could count only two 
sail-boats and three row-boats on the whole Sea.” 

“What a beautiful sail we had yesterday!” said 
Lucy. “I got a little scared though, when the 
skipper said it looked squally. I thought of the 
storm we were in after we left Nazareth. It would 
be dreadful to be out in a sail-boat in a storm like 
that. Arthur told me afterwards that people have 
lost their lives on the Sea of Galilee when only a 
[ 106 ] 



Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y, 

“ ‘THOSE VERY FISHERMEN ARE NO DOUBT CASTING THEIR NETS IN 
THE SAME WAY THEIR ANCESTORS DID’” 








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BESIDE THE SEA 


little ways from shore. The wind rises so suddenly 
and comes from so many directions at once, that a 
boat gets overturned before one can say Jack Eob- 
inson.” 

“A sudden squall on the Sea of Galilee must be 
dangerous. But — ” Mr. Andrews smiled at his little 
niece — “we weren’t out in one, my dear, and we cer- 
tainly had a delightful sail.” 

“I should say!” cried Joe, jumping up and mak- 
ing an unexpected leap over Arthur’s shoulders. “I 
didn’t begin to feel as excited when I first looked 
on the Amazon, as I did yesterday when our boat 
reached the place where the Jordan enters the Sea 
of Galilee.” 

“If you had been in Jerusalem at Easter time, 
Joe,” said Arthur, “you might have wished to join 
the crowd of pilgrims who left the city after the fes- 
tival there was over, to go down to the Jordan to 
bathe. They set out, merry and jolly, on camels, on 
donkeys, on horses and mules; some even went on 
foot. Every one in Jerusalem turned out to see the 
procession start.” 

“Ameen told me that there are sometimes thou- 
sands of these pilgrims, men, women and children, 
all bound for the same place,” said Joe. “He said 
that they camp out on the plain of J ericho, and just 
before daybreak, march down to the river in crowds, 
carrying torches. Then, as the sun rises, in they 
plunge.” 


[ 107 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 


“The current is so swift that some of them are 
swept away and drowned before they can be saved, ’ ’ 
Arthur went on. “It’s an exciting time.” 

“I am glad to have seen the Jordan,” said Mr. 
Andrews thoughtfully, “because to me it is the most 
sacred river in the world. Here, children, is a map 
of its windings. Let us look at it.” 

As Arthur and the twins gathered about Mr. An- 
drews, he pointed first of all to a spring marked 
Banias on the map. 

“This spring flows from the base of Mount Her- 
mon,” Mr. Andrews explained. “It is a beautiful 
spot, so I have read, with its waters bursting up 
out of the soft green earth in several fountains. 

“Not far from Banias are other springs whose 
waters also flow southward till they join together 
in a stream that soon rushes along in a mighty tor- 
rent, and is lost to sight in a thicket of papyrus 
canes. 

“After a while the Jordan enters a hollow in the 
land, which is called Lake Huleh, ten miles above the 
Sea of Galilee.” 

“But it doesn’t finish there where we saw it yes- 
terday,” said Lucy, looking closely at the map. “It 
seems odd to me that once a river has entered a sea 
or lake, why that isn’t the end of it.” 

“I don’t see why you should say so,” said Joe 
quickly, “when it flows out again, as the Jordan 
[ 108 ] 


BESIDE THE SEA 

does in almost a flood, from the other side of the 
Sea.” 

“The Sea of Galilee is really nothing but the Jor- 
dan river filling up a big hollow in the land. The 
water then flows over the southern rim, which is 
lower than the northern end where it comes in, and 
goes merrily on its way,” explained Mr. Andrews 
to the puzzled little girl. “After leaving the Sea, 
the river deepens till at last its bottom is far below 
the level of the ocean. At last, as it nears the Dead 
Sea, the shores are very beautiful. Tall reeds and 
groves of willows and poplars grow there, and it is 
there that the pilgrims come to bathe in its sacred 
waters.” 

“Supper must be near ready,” said Joe, sniflSng 
the air. “I smell mutton chops, and Ameen is call- 
ing to us to come.” 

‘ ‘ 0 dear ! ’ ’ said Lucy, making a long face. ‘ ‘ How 
I shall hate to bid Ameen good-by. It won’t be long 
now before he will be on his way back to Jerusalem 
with the horses and tents.” 

“And you, Arthur, will go with him,” groaned 
Joe. “What a shame that you can’t at least take a 
good-by sail with us to-morrow across the Sea of 
Galilee and see us on board our train for Damascus.” 

“It is a shame!” Arthur’s face was long. The 
next moment it was brighter as he added, “But 
we’ve had jolly good times together, which we shall 
never forget. 


[ 109 ] 







CHAPTER XV 


THE LAST RIDE IN PALESTINE 

T MISS Arthur dreadfully!” said Joe, with an un- 
usual pucker in his mouth. 

“And I too,” said Lucy, settling herself dolefully 
back in the compartment seat. 

“But you may see him again in a year or two in 
New York,” said Mrs. Andrews consolingly. “In 
the meantime you can write to each other.” 

“I suppose he’s gone quite a distance on his way 
to Jerusalem by now,” Joe considered. “I’ll never 
forget our first outing together when we passed 
through the J atfa Gate of J erusalem the Golden and 
jiratched the peddlers gathered there with their 
wares.” 

“Nor I,” said Lucy quickly. “How good Arthur 
was in explaining everything to us — why walls had 
been built around the city in olden times to protect 
it from its enemies, and why soldiers stood on guard 
at the Church of the Nativity and the Church of the 
Holy Sepulchre.” 

Little did the twins or their uncle and aunt dream, 
as Lucy spoke, that in a few short years the brave 

[ 111 ] 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 

Englishman, General Allenhy, would pass through 
the Jaffa Gate as conqueror of the country, and from 
that glad day the rule of the Turks in Palestine 
would be over. Little indeed! 

“There is something to interest you,” said Mr. 
Andrews, anxious to turn the twins’ thoughts from 
their parting with Arthur. He pointed to a camp 
in the wild rough country through which they were 
traveling. 

“A party of Bedouins with their camels are per- 
haps on their way to Damascus as well as ourselves,” 
continued Mr. Andrews. “But we will certainly 
reach there first — ” he laughed merrily — “as they 
don’t seem in a hurry just now to get anywhere.” j 

‘ ‘ The old man sitting in front of the big tent was 
probably the Sheikh,” said Joe. “He looked very 
important.” 

“I shouldn’t like to he passing their camp at 
night,” declared Lucy, “because Arthur told me that 
parties of Bedouins often plunder travelers on lone- 
ly roads.” 

“And yet oddly enough, so Ameen says,” Mr. An- 
drews said thoughtfully, “they are as hospitable as 
the farmer who sheltered us in the storm. Like him, 
they treat all guests royally, and would feel insulted 
at an offer to pay them for their hospitality, should 
we come to their tents for rest or shelter.” 

As the train moved on through the wilderness, 

[ 112 ] 


THE LAST RIDE IN PALESTINE 


Mrs. Andrews spoke of the wonderful sights soon to 
be seen in Damascus. 

“Though it is not, strictly speaking, in the Holy 
Land,’’ she said slowly, “it will he interesting to us 
for many reasons. St. Paul was in Damascus and 
entered it by the Street called Straight, over which 
we may soon be walking ourselves.” 

“And then,” cried Lucy earnestly, “it is the old- 
est city in the world, isn’t it. Uncle Ben?” 

‘ ‘ One of the oldest, at any rate, my dear. People 
say it was built even before the time of Abraham.” 

“Whew!” exclaimed Joe. “That is old enough 
to suit anybody.” 

Mr. Andrews smiled as we went on, “Of course 
you twins have heard of the famous Damascus 
blades for which the city was once noted?” 

“Yes indeedy!” Joe answered promptly. “The 
sabres were of such fine steel that they would bend 
to the hilt without breaking.” 

“The bazaars of Damascus will be interesting,” 
said Mrs. Andrews, “because of the rich silks and 
satins and delicate muslins we shall find there.” 

“And precious stones,” added her husband, who 
had already decided to purchase handsome rings 
there for his wife and Lucy’s mother. 

“Rich candies and preserves too,” put in Joe, who 
had been “reading up” Damascus in one of his 
uncle’s books. “I shall certainly get some sweeties 
to take home to Mummie.” 

[1181 


TWIN TRAVELERS IN THE HOLY LAND 


‘‘Arneen has given me a letter of introduction to 
a rich cousin of his who lives in Damascus,’’ said 
Mr. Andrews. “So we shall have a chance to see his 
home. It looks bare and gloomy, so Ameen said, 
when seen from the street, like many a house we’ve 
passed in Jerusalem. But within it is quite beau- 
tiful, with marble floors and lofty ceilings. It is 
built around a courtyard where fountains play all 
day, graceful trees give shade, and blossoming 
plants fill the air with perfume. ’ ’ 

“Oh!” said Lucy with dreamy eyes. She always 
said “Oh!” when she saw or pictured to herself, a 
particularly lovely sight. 

“While we have been talking,” said Mr. Andrews, 
suddenly straightening himself up, “we must have 
oome close to the border of the Holy Land. I wish 
the train could have passed through Dan.” 

“Why, Uncle?” Joe asked curiously. 

“Why? Not because there is much to see in the 
little town, but because of the old saying, ‘From 
Dan to Beersheba. ’ Being a Sunday School Super- 
intendent” — Mr. Andrews’s eyes twinkled much as 
Joe’s were in the habit of doing — “I happen to know 
what the expression means. In our own country we 
sometimes say ‘From Boston to San Francisco.’ In 
other words ” 

“I know! I know!” cried Lucy with dimpling 
cheeks. “We mean, from one end of the United 
States to the other. And so ” 


[ 114 ] 


THE LAST RIDE IN PALESTINE 


“From Dan to Beersheba means from one end of 
the Holy Land to the other,” broke in Joe, “because 
Dan is away np in the north, and Beersheba is away 
down near the southern border.” 

“Exactly. But now since you have traveled 
pretty much all the way from Dan to Beersheba, will 
you be ready for still more sight-seeing after a visit 
to Damascus?” 

“Yes, yes!” chimed the twins. 

“But where shall we go on leaving Damascus?” 
added Joe eagerly. 

‘ ‘ To the Syrian port of Beirut, to board a steamer 
there, and then — ” Mr. Andrews stopped short with 
a merry side-glance at his wife. 

“And then?” echoed the twins. 

“Then you both will feel like shouting ‘hurrah!’ 
when you learn what fresh experiences are in store 
for you.” 

There was silence for a moment and then Lucy 
said softly, “Uncle Ben!” and stopped short. 

“What is it, my dear?” 

“It’s hard to say what I wish. But I feel this 
way: You and Aunt NeU are so kind you are sure 
to make J oe and me have a lovely time wherever we 
go. And yet — whatever adventures are ahead of us, 
I’m sure none can be quite as beautiful — certainly 
not in the same way — as the ones we have just had, 
because they have been in the homeland of our dear 
Savior, Jesus Christ.” 

[ 115 ] 








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THE TWINS, wide-awake American boy and girl 
of twelve years, made the most of their wealthy uncle 
and aunt’s invitation to accompany them on a trip 
through the Holy Land. The journey proved a delight 
from beginning to end. Reaching this historic land by 
steamer through the blue Mediterranean, they landed 
at Jaffa, built on the foundations of the ancient city 
of Joppa, and then visited Jerusalem and its sur- 
rounding villages, rich in memories of Christ’s days 
on earth and in busy, picturesque Eastern life of the 
present day. 

A long horseback and camping trip then took them 
northward to beautiful Galilee through the Old Testa- 
ment country, and they ended their explorations at 
Damascus, having seen the Holy Land almost “from 
Dan to Beersheba,” which is another way of saying 
“from end to end.” 




